What Went Wrong?
by Dawn Semetra
Summary: Their plans all worked, but the cost was too high. Voldemort might have died in the long run, but he takes so many people with him that it cannot possibly be considered a 'victory'. So a group of four decide to send themselves back in time to fix it... What could possibly go wrong? Alternate Reality; Time travel; Reincarnated Founders; Harry is Salazar; Canon pairs
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor anything else recognizable. No profit is coming from this. I am merely playing in the sandbox of someone far more famous than myself.**

Er… yeah, as I'm sure a few of you have noticed, this isn't chapter 10 of Glory…. Heh. This is actually what has delayed me from working on Glory… This little story idea has been annoying me for the last week or so and finally, I couldn't stand it any more. I decided to write at least one chapter of the idea that has been so distracting. Unlike with Glory, and every other original, or not original fiction I have ever written, this story is not yet plotted out.

So yeah.. All I've got at this point is what is written down below, and a few vague ideas and scenes that I have written in my head that I'd like to see happen. You guys have no idea how unorthodox this is for me… Nevertheless, I decided to post it to see if anyone was interested in the idea. If there is a sufficient enough amount of interest, I will continue, but please bear in mind that it might actually take me some time to get chapters up. After all, I have to go back to working on Glory now, and this story will need a lot of setting up and plotting before it really gets started.

Since this is technically just the prologue, this chapter is basically a recap and bringing the story to where it would open in chapter one.

What I do know about this story: It is a reincarnated founders story with a twist that has been done before, but I hope to go about it in a fresh new way. It is rated T for now, but I am considering uping the rating to M.

Please let me know if you disagree with the rating at any time. I don't want it to be wrong, especially if I do end up continuing this!

Like I said, I really don't know where this story is going, and the M rating would more than likely come from the story getting dark psychologically. It will get violent I'm sure, but I am not one to write gore. In that aspect, the story will remain mostly clean. I also don't do romance, so that will be kept to a minimum beyond what is needed for the plot. The only pairing I see happening in the forefront will either be between Hermione and Harry, or simply canon pairings. _*If you have an opinion of the pairings, please feel free to vote in the poll that I have opened on my profile!*_

No matter what, I can guarantee that the story will have a happy ending, because I am all about ending a story on a high note.

Beyond that, I know that I will be borrowing some concepts and perhaps characters from the television series, Merlin. That being said. This is not a crossover. No knowledge from the show is necessary. This story merely deals with characters from a similar time period, and quite simply, I cannot picture the Harry Potter world as being completely separate from Merlin's.

Without further ado, I present to you…

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 **What Went Wrong?**

 _Prologue_

~x~

It had all gone so horribly wrong.

Harry wasn't sure exactly when the war had begun to tip in favor of Voldemort, but despite Harry's, and his allies' best efforts, they hadn't been able to protect the ones they loved. Oh, make no mistake… The side of light had _eventually_ won, but the cost of that victory was far greater than any had imagined. Not a single person, regardless of which side they fought on had come out of the war untouched. Everyone had lost at least one loved one.

Looking back, Harry supposed that everything started to go downhill for him with the death of his godfather, Sirius Black, at the end of his fifth year, however, he didn't think that Voldemort truly gained any ground until the death of Dumbledore that following year. Nevertheless, Sirius' death had marked the time when the Ministry of Magic finally recognized that Voldemort was in fact back, and when Harry had finally realized what 'the power he knew not' was…

Even if he himself didn't truly understand or accept it until it was far too late.

It had happened while he was in bed in the Hospital Wing following the battle of the Department of Mysteries. It was a time that Harry felt that he was at an all time low. Sirius was one of his last symbols of hope— a physical manifestation of a better future that he longed for with every fiber of his being. Sirius was both a father figure and a big brother for the boy who had had so few adults to lean on. To be forced to watch him die— knowing that it was his fault the man was there in the first place, and that the last words they had spoken to each other were yelled in anger— was a crushing blow.

Harry had been miserable, lying in that bed. He faintly remembered Madam Pomfrey giving him a sleeping draught of some sort, but it clearly hadn't worked, because at three in the morning, he had been wide awake in the silent castle, staring into nothingness as tears dripped from his anguished face. While he was in the middle of lamenting his failures, a piercing pain erupted from scar which flowed into the rest of his head. The pain had come so abruptly that Harry had been unable to even breath let alone scream. As sudden as it came, the pain vanished from Harry's head, leaving only the tingling echoes of discomfort to assure the boy that he had not just imagined the entire episode. Harry had only had a few moments to gasp for breath before his world went black and his body had fallen into unconsciousness.

At the time, Harry had assumed that the pain had been another side effect of his connection with Voldemort, however, now that he was older and understood just who he was, he knew that that was not entirely the case.

Hogwarts herself, in her attempt to comfort him, had touched his mind. With just about any other child, this benevolent act would not have caused such a reaction, however Harry was not a normal teenager by a long shot. So, when she attempted to touch his mind, instead of it being a soothing action, the Horcrux in his head reacted violently and the two fought for supremacy. Eventually Hogwarts— as pure and powerful as she was— claimed victory against the fragmented wisp of soul, and the weakened Horcrux was forced to retreat to the recesses of his mind to lick its figurative wounds. It was still there, but Harry did not once again receive anything more than faint wisps of the monster's emotions until far later in the war.

But that wasn't the only thing that happened. During the fight, the two opposing forces managed to crack open a vessel of memories that had been hidden in the recesses of the boys mind, allowing the new memories to flood into his mindscape.

Looking back, Harry supposed that the memories had not been released until that very moment due in part to the Horcrux's existence. Even unconsciously, his mind was protecting itself from Voldemort. Some of the secrets that were contained in his past lifes memories simply could not fall into enemy hands. Voldemort's especially. So they stayed hidden until such a time where the Horcrux was too weak to be a threat.

These new memories plagued Harry's nightmares and thoughts the entire summer before sixth year, and it wasn't until the following Christmas that Harry was able to convince himself that he was not actually crazy. He knew that the new memories were influencing his actions and personality and it scared him more than he was willing to admit. He was at war with himself and there was nothing he could do about it. One of the only positives of this entire situation was that suddenly, his classes were easy. Potions suddenly made sense, and he easily shot to being top of his class. Harry also found that he was more fluid with his usage of spells classified as dark. It scared him at first, however, as sixth year trudged on, he became more and more relaxed with the idea that magic itself was not innately evil.

All throughout this time, it was only the support of his friends that kept him from actually losing his sanity, but still, he didn't actually tell them what was actually going on with him.

He couldn't.

Even as they pleaded with him to open up, Harry knew that whether he liked it or not, he was still the wizarding world's champion. Their _savior_. If he broke down now, the side of light wouldn't stand a chance, and Harry knew that opening up would be just the same as breaking down. Once he opened the dam on his emotions, they would all come pouring out, and he would be worthless in a fight. No. It was better to wait until after Voldemort was defeated to finally let his friends in.

Harry also didn't want to be selfish and make everything about him. He knew that like him, his friends were all dealing with their own nightmares. Hermione, one of his best friends, had been forced to wipe the memories of her parents in an attempt to keep them safe. She had intended to send them out of the country then, but unfortunately, her plans were intercepted and Death Eaters caught up with them. They had targeted the airport that the couple had been leaving out of. The Grangers had not been the only innocents who had died that day.

It had been a devastating blow for the side of light.

The Weasley's home, lovingly called the Burrow was also attacked shortly after Christmas their sixth year. The home was burnt to the ground by none other than Bellatrix Lestrange. Unfortunately— or perhaps fortunately, depending on how you look at it— there was only one person in the house during the attack. With the kids all at either work or school, and Mr. Weasley also at work, Mrs. Weasley had been home all alone. Mrs. Weasley's body was found after the site was examined by the Aurors the following morning.

The Grangers and Mrs. Weasley were not the only deaths either. As sixth year continued to progress, the students began to dread the morning owl post, because it was pretty much guaranteed that someone would receive a black papered Death Notification from the ministry. The anguished cries that echoed through Hogwarts halls were becoming the new norm in this war torn age.

By the end of sixth year, Hogwarts was the only safe haven left physically untouched by the war in the United Kingdom.

Everyone knew it was only a matter of time.

It wasn't until after Dumbledores death that Harry was ready to accept who he was, both past and present, and this was mostly due to Dumbledore himself. Outside of Order meetings and private training for the war, Harry and the Professor spent little time together. In fact, Harry had wondered more than once if the professor was still avoiding him for one reason or another. Therefore, it came as a surprise when, about two days before his untimely death, the old professor called Harry into his office. Harry couldn't help the sad smile from appearing on his face at the old professor's attempt to hide his shriveled cursed hand from the boy. Even when his death was imminent, the kindly old professor was still trying to shield his students from the horrors of war.

They had just talked for a while, nothing overly important or heavy. Just talked. That measly hour that Harry had spent in the headmasters office had left him feeling lighter than he had in a long time.

"I accept you, Salazar."

The comment was said just as Harry was about to open the door to leave the quaint little office. Harry remembered whipping around in confusion, his expression breaking from its now normally emotionless state in order to turn wide eyes onto the professor's. In response, the professor had merely given him a small sad smile and returned his attention to the book that lay before him. It was as if what he had just said was not completely ground breaking for his companion.

After the fall of Dumbledore, Harry and his friends realized that they couldn't sit idle anymore. Hogwarts was no longer safe, and despite their young ages, none of them had been children for a good while now anyway. It was during this time that a few things also came to light, and Harry realized that he was not the only one who was dealing with memories that were not entirely his.

Harry expected that he would always remember that impromptu meeting between himself, Hermione, and the two youngest Weasleys with fondness.

He had always known that Hermione was off the charts smart, and it was only a matter of time before she realized what was going on with him. Within the first month of being back at Hogwarts during sixth year, she had already begun to give him odd looks. Granted, that was not too surprising, given his sporadic personality changes, and the odd statements and references that he was sure he sometimes made without thinking. As time went on, Harry knew that his personality and actions were becoming more fluid as the two sets of memories began to meld into one, and he once again became one person.

"I will never understand you three and your need for physical violence. There _are_ other ways to fight you know." She had said with a prim and proper tone that sounded far too natural to have come out of Hermione's mouth. The statement, while entirely innocent and not really anything all that extraordinary had nonetheless caused him to freeze with his heart pounding in his throat. Once upon a time, he could remember another saying that exact same thing. And suddenly when he looked at her, he realized just how stupid and self absorbed he had been during the last year to not notice it before now. It was _her_.

In a now completely out of character reaction for him, Harry had only been able to stutter out a few syllables in response. Hermione on the other hand had merely watched him out of the corner of her eye as she smirked proudly. After a moment, her smirk softened into a tender smile, and she reached out a hand to gently touch his arm.

"I've missed you, Sal."

And suddenly, they were both crying as they clung to each other like a life line. Across the table, someone else let out a sniffle.

It seemed to be an eternity before the two finally broke apart and turned to find that their youngest companion, Ginny, also had tears running down her face. The Weasley boy who sat by her side had glassy eyes as well, however he was the only one who had managed to hold the tears at bay.

"It's so good to see you two again!" The red headed girl sobbed as her hand clung to her brothers wrist. "Godric and I thought we were the only ones!"

More hugs followed as the four truly saw each other for the first time in forever. Any past arguments and events were temporarily placed aside as they all rejoiced in their reunion. Harry wiped his face on his robe in a rather undignified way before turning his attention back onto his three companions.

"How long have you guys known?" He breathed at last.

"Since the summer after second year." Ron answered with a prideful grin. "Although I do believe that I started to truly remember when I heard you speak parseltongue the first time."

Ginny nodded. "I remembered after you destroyed the diary. I think being down in the chamber is what did it for me. Godric and I spent a lot of time that summer talking it out. I think we worried our family a little bit with all the heavy, secretive conversations we were having. We were on vacation in Egypt at the time."

Hermione shook her head with a bit of mock annoyance. "Second year! I cannot believe I didn't notice you two! I spotted Salazar right away, after all. It is rather interesting that the two of you are full siblings in this life rather than half siblings, but perhaps that is a topic for another day. I began to remember some little things during third year, though I suppose that it was fourth year that really did it for me. Seeing you two boys arguing…" She let that loaded thought hang in the air for a moment before shaking her head and continuing. "Anyways, how about you Harry, when did it actually start?"

"Sirius' death." Harry closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath to gather his thoughts. "I think thats when it all started. Though I didn't really accept that I had a past life until I met with Dumbledore… Right before his death."

The four fell silent after that. Each taking a moment to remember the ones that they had lost. When they did finally start to talk again, their attention was back on the topic that the meeting had actually been called for: the war.

It had been decided that the original Golden Trio of this era would go out and actively work to bring Voldemort down. Ginny, as she was still underage in this life, and thus had a tracer on her magic would be forced to stay at Hogwarts. She was only consoled to this idea, with the reasoning that it would thus fall to her to protect their beloved school and its inhabitants.

If it came to that.

 _When_ it came to that.

Unfortunately, despite their best efforts, they were only four people, and they could not protect everyone. They made steady progress in hunting down the pieces that were anchoring Voldemort's soul to the Earth, but it simply wasn't fast enough. People were dying left and right and the once strong Magical Britain was left licking wounds that were never given enough time to heal before more attacks came.

It was May when the three finally returned to Hogwarts. All they had left to do was to destroy the final pieces of soul and then destroy the being who was more monster than man that had created them and it would be over.

Harry knew that the final showdown was going to come down to him and Voldemort. The prophecy's words were practically burned into his memory. He also knew that in order for the monster to be truly defeated, he needed to die by his hand…

And Harry was ready to die.

Call him a coward, but he was tired of all of the death and destruction. He had seen far too much of it in both this life and his last. He didn't really have any reasons left to live for and he certainly feared facing the other three when it was all over. After all, he knew that it was long overdue for them to all sit down and discuss everything from their previous life. He also knew, them turning on him a second time would destroy him. Death was easier, and besides, this way he could die a hero this time.

Except, he didn't die. Despite being hit dead on with the green light of the killing curse, Harry did not die. He supposed his survival wasn't that shocking of a notion. He had known that there was a Horcrux in his head. How could he not? He was a master at mind magic, for Merlin's sake! He had officially discovered the little soul fragment's existence when he had finally gotten around to setting up his protections and reorganizing his inner world. He had never told the others, but he was certain that Rowena knew anyways. Dumbledore had to have known too; it explained too many of his actions, after all.

After that, the war wrapped up rather quickly, with Harry eventually felling Voldemort with a single unidentified silent purple spell. It was a rather uninspired end to such a horrific war. After said final battle— dubbed forever in the history books as 'The Battle of Hogwarts'— reached its conclusion, those still alive were left to the clean up.

Both sides had suffered such great loses that Harry— and he was sure that he was not the only one thinking this— wondered if Wizarding Britain was even capable of rebounding, or whether at this point, if it was even worth it. The loses were simply too great, and there were not enough people still alive who would be able to return the country to a fully functioning nation once more. Despite this, the four reincarnated founders tried to help as much as they could.

They had collectively decided to keep their past identities to themselves, but had had no qualms against helping the society they loved with as much gusto as they had had when they were first building their beloved school. Their labor did nothing to bring back the hope however, in both the future, and their personal lives. In this post war world, all four knew that their relationship was strained at best. They had been putting off their talk while they aided their fellow wizards however; something they all agreed without saying was more important.

It wasn't until Hermione, as brilliant as she was, decided to think outside of the box, that they really had some hope again.

"Sal! Together we created the first time turner. Remember? Why not create something similar on a larger scale? Perhaps we can end this war before it even began!"

The other three quickly latched onto the idea and the hope that it brought with it, and suddenly, it was just like old times. Rowena and Salazar spent all their time locked in their workshop and only came out to eat and sleep. While they worked, the two Weasleys spent their waking moments in the continued effort to aid the present time with all the necessary clean up.

That way, if the two brilliant minds of their comrades failed, they could have at least done something for the _present_ in the meantime.

Between both Hermione and himself, it took nearly two months to plan out all the details of Rowena's idea and another month to actually gather all of the supplies that they would need to make it work. By the time it was ready, both of them had had birthdays come and go unnoticed and the autumn season was upon them. They had been disheartened to notice that Hogwarts had been unable to open for that year.

The ritual based spell that they had concocted would take them into the past, so that, with their knowledge of future events, they could take the fight to Voldemort and prevent as many deaths as possible. There were only two major glitches in their finished spell. For one, they couldn't guarantee _when_ exactly they would end up in the past— they could only guarantee that it would be sometime within the last ten years. The spell would also not place them in their younger bodies. Much like a time turner, they expected that the use of this spell would mean that there were two of them running around. This, the four saw as both a good and a bad thing. It was good, because it meant that they would be able to move more freely. After all, they wouldn't have to worry about going back too far and getting stuck in the bodies of their little kid selves, nor would they have to worry about dealing with a magical trace. They were worried about the notion of having doubles though. It was bad enough when you saw your double while using a time turner, but with this ritual? There would more than likely be two of them _permanently_.

Lucky for them, they didn't have to go back as themselves from _this_ life. Thus, when they got to the point where it looked like they would succeed in their endeavor, they came to the conclusion that if they truly wanted to change the past, they would have no choice than to leave their current lives forever behind and _become_ the founders once more.

It was on a dreary night near the middle of September that they finally put all their hard work into action. The four reborn founders sat around a complex array of runes and other ritualistic designs. The smell of incense was heavy in the room as they prepared the final steps needed for completing the ritual. All four were dressed in old style clothing of bright colors. These were the colors that they had been famous for during their first lives, even if they had not actually worn said colors all the time. They also were carrying relics with them that they had either been able to scavenge from Hogwarts, or entirely recreate. After all, most of their possessions from the time of their first lives were long gone. Gringotts hadn't existed yet, and there was no place where such items had purposely been kept for the sake of preserving. This was especially true for Salazar.

Nevertheless, they felt that it would be wise for them to truly look the part if they were going to pull this off. Even if their current getup was not something that they had actually worn for day to day life… But they figured that the wizards of today— Er… _yesterday_ — wouldn't know that. Besides, the more they could distance themselves from their twins, the better. The four even went so far as to use both charms and potions to make themselves as physically akin to their previous lives as possible.

For Ron, this meant that in order to once again become Godric, he needed a good few hair growth charms. As a founder, he had been the eldest by a few years, and as such, had already been 20 when Hogwarts was founded. The others had all still been teenagers. While they did intend to play as though they were the founders at the ages they appeared, it was a concern that their physical age differences did not match in this life. Using Harry's current age of 18 as a baseline, meant that Godric should appear as though he were already 22. Rowena, who was the second eldest was also 18, and Helga, as the youngest in both times was 17. At this point, they had officially opened Hogwarts 2 years ago. They could only hope that nobody noticed if Ron claimed to be a bit older than he actually was.

By the time the spells and potions had been used on Ron, his short red hair had grown to a slightly darker red mane that hung just past his shoulders, and he had the beginnings of a beard to aid in the notion that he was a bit older than the others. Ron had also changed his eye color from the once light blue to the more brownish gold that he had been known for as a Founder.

For Ginevra, physically regaining her original looks had been the easiest. Between the four of them, she looked the most like her counterpart in this life. The only change that they had felt necessary to make concerning her physique was to slightly lighten her red hair until it was more strawberry blonde than red. Unlike Godric, Helga had not shared his golden eye color prominent in the Gryffindor line, and instead had her mother's crystal blue eyes- a color that she had in this life too.

Hermione was also easy. The only huge significant difference between her and Rowena physically was also the hair color. With the help of a few charms and potions, Hermione once again attained the dark brown, almost black hair that she had had as Rowena. For good measure, she had also cast a straightening charm, which made her somewhat frizzy hair, smooth out to softer curls.

Harry had needed the most unusual charms. However, he was the only one whose coloring matched his original looks perfectly. To begin, they had lengthened Harry's hair to about shoulder length, which had the effect of making it far less messy in appearance. Unlike Ron, since Harry was going to be using his actual age, they felt there was no need for him to magically grow any facial hair, as he was still rather young. The only other major thing that they had needed to fix was his vision, which was done with a swift charm preformed by Hermione.

They truly looked like the spitting images of their past selves, if they said so themselves.

"Are you guys ready?"

The others all nodded, and with a collective deep breath, the chanting began. The whole room began to glow an eerie red as the spell began to take effect. Then suddenly, with a flash of blinding white, the chanting stopped, and the room fell utterly silent.

They were gone.

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 **AN:** thats a wrap.

Don't forget to let me know what you think! Or whether I should continue!

~Dawn


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor anything else recognizable. No profit is coming from this. I am merely playing in the sandbox of someone far more famous than myself.**

~Looks like this is continuing after all! I've opened a poll regarding the pairings, but more information on that at the bottom. Let me know if this has any errors! As always, it is unbetaed.

Without further ado, I present to you…

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 **What Went Wrong?**

~x~

 **Chapter 1:** _Unexpected Arrival_

 _~x~_

It was just another late September evening in Hogwarts. Younger students were chatting amicably at their tables as they made new friends and talked about their first few weeks at Hogwarts, while the older students chatted about classes within their already established cliches.

Of course, not everything was sunshine and roses, the potions master, Severus Snape noted from his position at the head table. Every year, as the war continued to drag on and on without an end in sight, the students seemed more and more subdued. Severus couldn't blame them, of course. Many had had family members, or even known classmates who had been killed. The student population had also really taken a hit, with the numbers of students far below what it had been a decade ago. The number of muggleborns especially had drastically decreased.

Severus himself had been a spy in the war. That was far behind him, however, as the Dark Lord had discovered his true allegiances many years ago. Now Severus was content to sit back and simply be a professor. That did not mean that he did not help out in the war efforts at all any more, oh no, Severus was still an active member of Albus Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix. He was simple able to spend most of his time focused on his students rather than worried about being hit with a Crucio and keeping his stories straight.

No longer being a spy had also had a great effect on how he was viewed at Hogwarts. Since he no longer had to be quite so hateful towards the other houses, the Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and even Gryffindors to an extent, didn't mind his classes. Some even _liked_ him. Actually, the only house he had troubles with these days were his own Slytherins. He had lost many of their respect and trust the day he had been ousted as a spy. Many of the poor students were in a tough place, after all. With their parents devout followers of Voldemort, and him a known traitor to the Dark Lord, they were stuck in the middle of the war before they even became teenagers. Worse, they had no neutral adult figure to turn to.

They certainly wouldn't come to him for aid.

Even for some of his snakes, whose families were more gray and neutral, simply being seen with him was like sticking it to Voldemort. For those whose parents were already devout followers, if it came around that they actually respected, or heaven forbid _liked_ him, Severus was certain their parents, or even Voldemort would not react positively.

This was why Severus had swallowed his pride and had tried to step down from his position as Head of House Slytherin. Forcing those poor kids to be so close to him was simply not fair to them.

Dumbledore would have none of it however. He had simply told Severus that he was the best role model for the house of green, and then, with a twinkle in his eyes, had offered him a lemon drop.

Barmy old man.

Severus sighed as his eyes drifted over his Slytherins again, and let his eyes linger on Draco. His godson had perhaps been hit the hardest with this war. The Malfoy's had had a falling out with Voldemort just over two years ago after Voldemort had tried to send Draco on a mission during the summer before his third year. Draco had almost been killed, and had returned to Hogwarts a shadow of himself. The Malfoy's refused to allow Voldemort to use Draco again for missions after that, hence their falling out. Naturally, the Malfoy's wouldn't 'lower' themselves to join Dumbledore's side of the war, so instead, they had moved back overseas to France, where the Malfoy family had originated from.

The only reason that Draco was still attending Hogwarts was due to Severus' position within the school, the man suspected. After all, despite being outed as a spy, Lucius and Severus were still friends, and Severus was still Draco's godfather. The Malfoy's knew that he would protect the boy with his life if need be.

He had sworn an oath that he would.

Nevertheless, Severus sometimes suspected that Draco would have been happier with a transfer. After all, the boy was now an outcast in his own house. The poor boy was now often referred to as the Disgraced Prince within Hogwart's walls.

"Knut for your thoughts?" A voice asked from his right. Severus turned his gaze from the students to one of his fellow teachers, Remus Lupin. The tired looking werewolf gave him a sad smile.

Severus merely hummed in response, but turned his attention away from the student population and back to his half eaten dinner.

No sooner had he put a bite of roast beef in his mouth, a bright humming light appeared suddenly from right in front of the head table. The students all grew quite as everyone in the room turned their attention towards the light. Many of the professors— Severus included— along with a few of the older students stood from their seats and got their wands out, ready to fight if it came to that. In the background of the near constant humming sound, faint ghostly voices chanting in a language that Severus didn't recognize could be heard. The chanting grew louder and louder as Severus clutched his wand tightly.

 _If Voldemort has found a way to teleport directly into Hogwarts…_

No.

He couldn't let himself think things like that. He would protect his students at all costs… If anything happened to a single one of his students, Severus knew he would never forgive himself.

Suddenly, the light intensified tenfold, briefly blinding Severus and the rest of the Grand Hall's population. This triggered a few of the students to cry out in surprise.

When Severus' vision returned, the first thing he noticed were four figures standing where the light had originated. The four looked nearly as surprised at their arrival as the residents of Hogwarts looked to see them. The second thing he noticed was how young they were. With narrowed eyes, Severus looked closer at the four newcomers.

All four seemed to be wearing rather outdated clothes. A tall red headed man was closest, and facing Severus, and he could see the beginnings of a beard growing to match his rather long and wild red hair. The man was openly wearing a sword strapped to his hip. The sword was clearly a work of art, and glinted in the light with its inlayed rubies. Severus could see that something seemed to be written down the hilt of the sword, but he could not quite make out the words. The man also seemed to be wearing golden chainmail under his crimson red cloak. Severus swallowed a grimace as he turned his attention to the other three. _The man is like a walking stereotype for Gryffindor!_

The girl on his right looked an awfully lot like the first man, though her twin braided hair was more of a strawberry blonde than a true red. She was also wearing the same golden chainmail that the first had been sporting, though hers was mostly covered by black robes with yellow clasps over the top. Like her brother—at least, Severus _assumed_ it was her brother— she also had a short sword strapped to her side, however hers was far less impressive to look at, and certainly seemed to have seen a lot of use. Severus could see what appeared to be some sort of ornate axe peaking up from where it must be strapped to her back as well. She seemed to be peering around the room curiously, Severus noted with some interest.

The third figure, another woman, was weaponless. Dressed beautifully in robes of bright shimmery blue sapphire, the woman stood looking like the perfect picture of a lady. Her hair was half braided into a crown, with the rest falling in soft ringlets of dark black-brown to her mid back. He could see the glint of a ring on her left hand as she reached up to brush a strand of hair from her eyes. All the while, her intelligent eyes seemed to scan the room quickly taking everything in. Their twin dark eyes connected, and the woman arched one perfect eyebrow at him in seeming amusement.

Severus quickly turned his eyes to the last figure, another man who, from his line of sight stood in the shadows of the other three. What he could make out was green and black. The man was shorter than the red head, but he made up for it in subtle presence. If Severus was not mistaken, the man was wearing black clothes under a shimmery dark green cloak, which was held on with an ornate silver clasp located just under his collar. From underneath the cloak, Severus could just make out the glint of some hidden weapon. The man had pale skin that seemed to contrast with his longish black hair. His hair fell over his forehead, and partially obscured his unnaturally green eyes.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" Dumbledore's powerful voice bellowed out.

As one, all four of the newcomers turned their attention towards the headmaster.

" _That_ , is exactly what I was about to ask you." The black and green man murmured, green eyes twinkling mischievously. His voice seemed to carry easily despite its soft spoken tone to the effect that nobody had any problems hearing him.

The woman in blue shot him an unamused look before returning her attention to the headmaster. "Please ignore him, he thinks he is funny." In response to her words, the man in question's smirk simply grew a touch more pronounced. "Although he is not entirely wrong. From our point of view, we have not moved, and yet, all of the familiar faces that normally sit within this Grand Hall have suddenly been replaced with all of you, whom we most certainly have never met."

Dumbledore narrowed his eyes, however he did lower his wand slightly. "Very well. Perhaps we should take this somewhere a bit more private. Students, I believe it is time you head back to your dorms. Heads of house, follow me. Those teachers who remain, please make sure that all of the students make their way back to their dorms in a timely fashion. Thank you."

With that, the old Headmaster began to make his way out of the Great Hall and towards his office. The four newcomers trailed him slowly, leaving Severus and his fellow heads of house to follow along.

~x~

The spell seemed to have worked as intended.

Salazar and the others were most certainly in the past. After all, how else could figures such as Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape, who was currently walking behind him, be alive? The realization that they had succeeded made the black haired teen almost giddy with thrill.

There was one tiny glitch though. Harry was certain that there were students sitting in the Great Hall that he had never seen before. Also, what was Remus Lupin doing at the head table? A courtesy glance at the Slytherin table had proven to him that Draco was about a year or two older than 13, so Remus couldn't still be a teacher. Harry couldn't remember the man ever coming to Hogwarts for a dinner either.

And where were their doubles?

He had looked at every single one of the students wearing red and gold, and not a single one had shared one of their faces. Not one. Actually, it was the Gryffindor table that seemed the most peculiar. There were many other familiar faces beyond their own that seemed to be missing. Neville, and the Creevey siblings, just to name a few. In fact, there seemed to be far less students than Harry remembered there being while he was in school…

Harry shook his head slightly to clear his thoughts. So far, everything was going to plan. It seemed that Dumbledore was believing them so far, which was good. Out of everyone, he was the one they were the most concerned with convincing that they were the actual Founders. After all, he was a very intelligent man, it wouldn't do for them to underestimate his brainpower. While the four of them were all very apt at occluding their minds, they knew that one slip up could mean their lives.

After all, with doubles— where ever they were, that is— around, it would be dangerous to let _anyone_ know who they were.

Their intentions were to _fix_ the past, not create a temporal paradox.

They made their way up the familiar route to the headmasters office and all nine of them squeezed themselves into the small by comparison office. With a furrowed brow, Dumbledore quickly conjured up eight extra chairs before sitting in the one already located behind his desk. Salazar noted with some amusement that the old professor didn't put his wand away. Salazar and the other three time travelers all sat in the center seats directly in front of his desk, where as Professors Snape, McGonagall, Sprout and Flitwick all took up places surrounding them.

Dumbledore cleared his throat before he began speaking, "Now that we are all more comfortable and have a bit more privacy, lets try and get to the bottom of what has happened. My name is Albus Dumbledore, and I am the headmaster of this fine establishment. The four seated around you are members of my staff—from right to left, Severus Snape, Minerva Mcgonagall, Pomona Sprout and Filius Flitwick."

Godric took the lead, nodding his head in acknowledgement of their introduction. "A pleasure. My name is Godric Gryffindor, and to my left is my half sister, Helga. To my right is my best friend Salazar Slytherin, and finally, sitting next to Sal is the lovely Rowena Ravenclaw."

Salazar had to give his friend some credit. How that man had been able to keep his face straight throughout his speech while the professors seated around them all gasped and gawked, he would never know.

Perhaps he would make a 'Slytherin' out of his friend after all, he mused with an inward snort. Who was he kidding, even as Ron, his friend had been about as polar opposite of a Slytherin in personality and motives as you could get, not to mention his rather extreme dislike for the house… Harry mentally shook his head, now was not the time to dwell on such thoughts.

Despite the surprised reactions from the professors, Dumbledore at least didn't seem to be believing them at face value. His eyes merely narrowed at Godric's introduction. "Do you have any proof that you are who you say you are?"

Salazar let a small smirk filter onto his otherwise emotionless face.

Oh this would be fun.

He had to play the part, right? And besides, they asked for proof, didn't they? In a clear voice, he called, "Hogwarts! By my magic, acknowledge myself and my companions as your creators, so mote it be!"

In response, Hogwarts let out four reverberating chimes that seemed to practically shake the office tower. All of Dumbledores various nick-nacks shook violently, and a few even toppled over and fell to the floor. All the inhabitants, not including Salazar or Rowena had to move quickly to cover their ears. Salazar, knowing full well what Hogwarts would to do in response to his command, had cast a quick noice canceling charm. He assumed that Rowena had done the same. He canceled the spell as soon as the noice stopped.

" _Salazar_! Was that _really_ necessary!?" Helga cried a bit louder than she needed too, as she glared at him. Harry was quite amused to note that she had covered her ears far before the first bell had sounded, so clearly she had realized what he was doing. Why she hadn't just cast a spell like himself and Rona, he didn't know.

Salazar, somewhat used to being on the receiving end of her glares merely chuckled in response. "The man asked for proof of our identities, did he not?" he asked calmly.

"Yes." She grounded out, "But there are far more _quiet_ ways to go about it."

In between the two of them, Godric laughed good-naturedly. "Come on sis! You must admit that that was funny! Look at all of their reactions! I don't think any of them expected that Hogwarts could even _do_ that!"

And Godric was right. If the professors were gawking at them before, now they practically had their jaws on the ground. And it seemed that Dumbledore had joined them in their shock.

Good.

It would make their lives so much easier if he too believed that they were the founders without a doubt.

"Anyways," Rowena started, finally taking control of the conversation. "Now that we all know who each other is, perhaps we can begin to figure out exactly what is going on? Judging by your reactions, you five all know who we are, however, as I pointed out in the Grand Hall, we have never seen any of you before in our lives."

Dumbledore took a moment to seemingly compose himself. "Of course," he said softly at last, "I do believe I have at least an idea of what has happened, but I will need you to fill in some blanks for me.

"You see, I think that, some how, the four of you have managed to travel into the future. Nearly 1000 years, in fact."

With that said, all of the inhabitants of the room fell silent as they considered the implications of what had just been said. Mentally, Harry cheered, though he made sure to keep his face outwardly an emotionless mask. Dumbledore was right where they wanted him! He was clearly beginning to trust them, if he was already willing to start thinking about how they had come to be here. And he was jumping to the _exact_ conclusions that they wanted him to.

"Is that so…" Salazar contemplated, picking up the conversation once more. "That is a little worrisome. Well, I can tell you that the last thing that the four of us were doing was some dueling practice outside with our students. We then broke up for a break and Rowena and I decided to show Helga and Godric a new project we had been working on. Its a devise made for time travel. However, it should only be capable of allowing one an hour tops of travel… It seems we made some miscalculations in our experimentation…"

Salazar trailed off as if he were lost in thought.

Dumbledore nodded solemnly ,"I have never heard of anything quite like it myself either, but I will do whatever I can to help you four return to your correct time period. Of course, you are welcome to remain here for as long as you need."

"That would be wonderful, Headmaster" Helga spoke up. "Thank you so much for being so understanding. I certainly don't understand the magic that has taken us here, but like the others, I am eager to get home."

"I'm sure you are. Now, I think that it would be wise to set down some ground rules as it seems that you four will be staying here at Hogwarts for at least a little while. Not because I think myself above you, but rather to protect the time line. I know a bit about time magic myself, and there are most certainly cautions that we should take, to prevent any impairment to the time continuum.

"To begin, we cannot tell you anything about our present time. I'm sorry, but it is simply too dangerous. I also implore you to not go out seeking information on your own. You are important figures in our history, however, were you to learn about your futures, or the future of the wizarding world in general could be detrimental to our present. Second, for reasons that I cannot explain, I want Lord Slytherin to have a guard with him at all times. This can be one of my staff, or even one of you. Please understand that I do have my reasons, however, to tell you might change the past, as I already explained."

Godric nodded slowly. "I understand, Professor. Like Helga, I too, do not begin to claim that I understand the magic that brought us here, but I do understand the importance of not changing the past. We will abide by your rules. While I am sure Salazar will not like it, I am certain he will concede to having a guard remain with him."

"Of course." Salazar agreed easily, "While I must admit my curiosity, I do know better than to mess with time." Salazar's eyes reflected his mirth at the irony of that statement before he amended his comment. "At least, I understand how crucial it is to not alter the past."

Despite the light tone and amusement he displayed at the entire situation, inside Harry's head he felt like he had just been punched in the stomach. He should have expected it, really. Here he was, allegedly one of the most dark evil wizards of all time, sitting in front of Dumbledore without a care in the world. The only thing that was probably keeping Dumbledore from arresting him on the spot was the fear of messing up the past.

And the fact that he was currently only a teenager.

Dumbledore had no way of knowing that he had _all_ of his memories from his life as Salazar Slytherin.

Still, to have his past mentor so leery of him hurt. Having to be constantly guarded would also be rather annoying. It was like he was on some sort of house arrest. Oh wait, that is _exactly_ what it was. Heh. It would be worth it though, if he could save even one of the five professors' lives in the upcoming war, not to mention everyone else in the Wizarding World. .

"Alright, well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I am an old man, and I think it is past my bedtime. I can have some rooms made up for you to sleep in tonight, if you wish?"

"That would be lovely professor. We do have our own personal chambers, of course, but being this far in the future, we have no idea what sort of shape that they will be in." Helga answered with a sweet smile.

"Chambers, you say? Well I have no idea what state they might be in this far in the future, but I assure you that we do have a number of house elves that take up residence here. I would not be surprised if they have kept your rooms at least habitable as some level."

Rowena shook her head. "No. I don't believe that they would dare to go down into our chambers. We have never even let any of our students down there. It was our private home, you understand. It's completely off limits for the students. The students have even jokingly called it 'the Chamber of Secrets'."

She finished her answer with a slight laugh to cover up the grin that was trying to make its way onto her face. After all, this would surely throw the teachers for a loop. Whoever thought that only Salazar inhabited the infamous Chamber of Secrets clearly didn't know what they were talking about. All four of them had lived down there. Once upon a time, it had contained all their bedrooms for both themselves, and later, their children, living rooms, dining, training, you name it. Tom Riddle, when he had stumbled upon it's ruins, had only uncovered a small section of the true Chamber of Secrets.

Salazar was thankful for the hidden clue Rowena had given them. He knew that she had only let that information out because of their leeriness of him. Even if it was only disproving one minor detail in the secrets and darkness that surrounded his supposed history, the gesture was appreciated.

"Yes," Dumbledore cleared his throat, "Well, I have certainly heard of this 'Chamber of Secrets'." He said simply. "Yes, perhaps it would be best for me to just assign you rooms for the night. I can give you a suite with four separate bedrooms, if that would be agreeable?"

"That would be perfect, Professor." Godric replied charmingly. "Thank you for your hospitality."

"It is my pleasure." The twinkle was back in his eyes as the man regarded Godric, "I do have one final question for the four of you tonight, if you do not mind. That is, how exactly are you able to communicate with Modern English?" Dumbledore asked curiously as they all started to stand up to leave.

"Modern English?" Godric played dumb.

"Yes. It is what we are speaking. While I don't know the exact dialect that was spoken during your time, I do know for a fact that it was far different from what is spoken today. So the question is, how are we communicating?"

"Oh, I believe I can answer that." Rowena said. "You see, not all of our students speak the same language as us, or each other for that matter. Thus, we use a pretty standard spell on all of our students, and ourselves in order to make sure that we can all understand each other without a problem. It makes teaching far easier."

Dumbledore nodded in acceptance. "Ah. Understandable. Well, tomorrow, if you are willing, I will introduce you to the rest of the school's population and explain the situation. For now, I believe that it is time for me to bid you all a good night. Severus, would you mind taking them to the east wing? I'll have a few house elves meet you there and lead the four of you to a readied room."

"Of course." The potions master replied in his deep baritone voice. "If you would kindly follow me."

The now group of five made their way down the spiraling staircase and out into the main hallways of Hogwarts. Salazar sped up a little until he was walking along side of Snape. The other three founders trailed behind them. Severus didn't speak again, however Salazar could see Snape glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. He decided to mess with him a bit.

"So what subject do you teach?" He asked conversationally.

Severus seemed to miss a step in surprise at having a question directed towards him from the object of his scrutiny.

"Potions." Snape answered simply, "Along with being Slytherin's head of house, I am the potion master here at Hogwarts."

"Indeed?" Salazar mused. "I am something of a potions master myself. Self taught, of course. There wasn't exactly anyone around who could teach me. My mentor was absolute rubbish at the subject."

Snape was quiet for a moment before replying. "Perhaps we should compare notes sometime. I doubt that there is anything we could do in a potions lab that could affect the future too much. We will have to stick to potions you are already aware of however."

Salazar smirked. "Sounds intriguing, I might have to take you up on your offer should I require a break from working with Rowena. Returning us to our own time will have to be my first priority."

Severus nodded understandingly. "Of course. If you ever need a break, come find me any time." Severus then came to a halt, turning to address all the founders. "As I am sure you are aware, we are now in the East Wing. I would expect your room to be somewhere near—"

Just then a house elf popped into view with a loud crack. "Floppy is sorry she is late! Floppy will now take the four great ones to their chambers now. Follow Floppy!" With that, the little elf tottered off further down the hall.

With a flicker of annoyance, Severus regarded the four once more. "It appears that this is where I leave you. I bid you a good night, and will see you in the Great Hall tomorrow for breakfast."

They said their farewells as they all turned to follow the elf a few meters down the hall. She had stopped in front of a portrait depicting a small stable. The stable boy looked up from where he was grooming a particularly beautiful dapple grey. "Hello there! Just give me a password and I will allow you into your chambers if you'd like!"

The four looked at each other for a moment before Salazar spoke up, "Begin again!"

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 **AN:** This was quite easy to write. I simply love it when the story practically writes itself! It has been a while since a story has been this easy for me to put on paper. Anyways, as I'm sure you've noticed, I have continued this. It is now pretty much plotted out, at least, I have a really good idea on where it will go from here.

Also, I have opened a poll regarding pairings for this story on my page. I'd really appreciate your opinions on the future pairings.. I might end up writing the story Harry/Hermione regardless, however it would be nice to know your thoughts myself. I am heavily leaning towards Hermione/Harry, for a number of reasons, one being to make it more unique.. There are a few of these Time travel/AR Founder stories out there, but I think that most, if not all use canon pairings. That particular pairing will also add some angst with the fact that Godric's spouse would be dead. And Helga? Well I have got some really unique stuff planned for her that I have never seen done, but needless to say, she is going to be quite the warrior woman.

Don't forget to favorite/follow/leave feedback! I appreciate all the support I can get!

Till next time!

~Dawn


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor anything else recognizable. No profit is coming from this. I am merely playing in the sandbox of someone far more famous than myself.**

So, the poll won overwhelmingly in favor of canon pairings. I was still going back and forth, but in the end, I have decided to listen to you guys and I think that I have found a way to keep most of my ideas intact while rewriting some of their histories. From this point forward, let it be known, that the story will remain canon.

This chapter gets a little heavy, and its the first time I've really tried my hand at emotional scenes. I hope I did it justice!

Without further ado, I present to you…

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* * *

 **What Went Wrong?**

~x~

 **Chapter 2:** _Memories_

 _~x~_

The door shut with a soft click and the four turned to regard each other.

Rowena was quick to put some wards and noice canceling spells up while she searched the room for anything that could possibly listen in on any private conversations they might have. Giving the all clear, she moved back to stand with the others, however, nobody actually spoke for a long moment.

"Well, we did it." Ginny said at last as she stepped away from the group and sunk into the plush brown couch located in the center of the suite's living room. "We actually did it."

"So it seems." Salazar murmured in response as he sat down on the other side of the couch with a sigh.

The suite was actually quite nice. The walls were a soft creamy tan, and the floor a deep mahogany wood. In the center of the room a rug— made of threads containing multiple shades of brown— was thrown across the floor. Sitting upon said rug were a collection of plush chairs, a low table and the couch that both Helga and Salazar were now occupying. Lining the walls were a total of six doors, including the one that they had just entered from. Salazar assumed that four of the remaining five were the bedrooms that Dumbledore had promised, which meant that the last one was probably a bathroom. While the large living room had no windows, it gave off the impression of being lit from natural lighting. In the far back corner, a fire crackled with warmth.

Giving the suite a last final glance, Salazar was slightly amused to note that the room was completely made up of neutral colors. It seemed that Dumbledore was trying his very best to ensure that none of them were offended in any way.

"Harry, mate. I'm really sorry about the whole guard thing. I really didn't know how else to respond to that. Dumbledore took me by surprise with that request and I didn't want to blow our cover by getting insulted or..!" Ron looked a bit desperate as he fished for words to explain his thoughts.

"It's fine. I should of expected it really… I mean, I _am_ Salazar Slytherin." Harry said with a slight shrug. "Besides, most of my time is going to be devoted to taking out Voldemort with you guys. We will simply have to pretend to be holing ourselves up in the Chamber of Secrets studying, while we sneak out to get our real work done. I have no intentions of wandering around the school by myself, so I really won't need to have one of the staff members following me around anyways.

"It's really lucky that Dumbledore bought our 'lost travelers' excuse so easily." Harry continued, changing the subject, "If our luck holds, we will be able to sneak out and do our thing and he will know no better."

"About that," Hermione looked nervous. She had perched on the corner of one of the armchairs and was wringing her hands in a move that was so completely Hermione. Rowena had never been one for nervous habits; always the proper lady. "I think something went wrong. I mean, we are certainly in the past, but didn't you guys notice how many familiar faces were missing in the Great Hall?"

Ron sat down on the other chair and leaned back with a relaxed sigh. "Maybe they just didn't come to dinner."

"But it wasn't just that," Hermione continued persistently, "Some of the teachers were even different! Perhaps you guys didn't notice, but remember, at one point or another, I have taken classes with all of the Hogwarts staff. The seat that the Muggle Studies Professor typically occupies was instead occupied by a younger man I've never seen before, Ancient Runes was different too! Also, don't tell me you guys missed the fact that _Lupin_ was seated at the High Table? I don't know, but I have a really bad feeling about all of this."

Salazar narrowed his eyes as he leaned forward and rested his chin on his steepled hands. "I did notice Lupin." He started slowly, "I also noticed the lack of our doubles, however, lets not jump to conclusions too fast. There very well may be a reasonable explanation for what is going on. For now, lets just try and get more information."

"But _how_ do we get information?" Helga asked impatiently, "It's gonna look pretty suspicious if we go to the library or even ask for a newspaper. Don't forget, Dumbledore practically forbade us from asking any questions either, and I'm certain he will tell the students to not tell us anything either!"

"Then we don't look for information directly." Salazar responded firmly, "While he has forbade us from asking questions regarding the present, he has not forbade us from talking to anyone. We simply have to wait for someone— most likely a student— to slip up. If we can get them to chat about themselves, I am sure we can glean at least a bit of information to clue us in to whether or not something went wrong with our spell."

Rowena nodded. "I agree, we should also plan to spend much of tomorrow cleaning up our Chambers. While I haven't actually gone down there since my first life, from what you have all told me, it will take a good bit of work. It will be worth it though, as it will give us a private base to work out of, and a way we can easily get out of Hogwarts without anyone being the wiser."

"And then we can sneak out in our animagus forms and head down to Hogsmeade! We will certainly be able to uncover some information there!" Ginny cheered.

" _Or_ we could just order a newspaper and have it come directly to our Chambers." Godric figured.

"That would probably work, but it would be a little risky," Salazar countered. "We don't know exactly what sort of monitoring wards Dumbledore might have set up at this point. There may be a screening ward that would alert him of any mail that is receive by owl, even if it is delivered in private. It would be safer to simply purchase or steal a newspaper in town."

"We can deal with that as it comes. For now, lets just take this one day at a time. Tomorrow, we will work on cleaning up the Chamber." Rowena finished with a nod.

"Well, now that we have got that all settled, I think I am going to go to bed. I'm knackered." Godric finished with a yawn. He slowly stood up from his armchair and stretched before slowing making his way towards one of the doors.

"Er. R-Ron!" Hermione called as she stood up suddenly and took a few steps in his direction.

"What?" He asked, stopping and looking over his shoulder.

"Well, we need to decide what to do about 'us'." Hermione stated firmly, however her eyes betrayed her nervousness.

"I'm sorry, 'us'?" Ron looked honestly confused. "How do you mean?"

Hermione was quiet for a moment as she held her hands tightly in front of her stomach. When she spoke at last, her voice was barely above a whisper, "We had already been married for over two years by this time during our last lives." She paused as she lifted her left hand to show the ring that she had recently put back on. While it wasn't the original, it was as near a replica as she could manage to transfigure. "Emeric had already been born by the time I was 19, so we can't pretend that we were not already married. I don't know if I trust Helena to not out us if we give her any reason to suspect we are not who we say we are."

Ron's eyes seemed to be frozen on the ring. "I hadn't even noticed you were wearing that." he murmured at last, looking a bit bewildered.

"It's not the original, of course!" Hermione said quickly, dropping her hands to her sides. "But we are going to have to play the part. I mean— not even including Helena— certainly _someone_ knows that we were arranged to be married as infants. It's how we met, after all."

Ron nodded slowly, seeming to come out of his shock a bit. "I suppose you are right. Merlin, I didn't even think about this!" Ron took a deep breath, "Well, we will defiantly have to pretend to be married in front of others, but Hermione, I am not going to push you into anything you don't want. It was an arranged marriage the first time, and it isn't fair to either of us to have to be thrown into one a second time."

"Agreed, but Godric? It may have been an arranged marriage— and I most defiantly did not like you when we were kids— but I did love you. I hope you knew that." She crept a few steps closer, until she was standing directly in front of him.

Godric smiled softly and gently placed his hands on her upper arms. "I loved you too, and it is for _that_ reason that I don't want to push this. We were forced into a relationship the first time by our parents, and I don't want to be forced by external forces again. In private, lets take it slow. Just be ourselves."

Hermione nodded, looking a bit relieved. "Alright. Well, I think that I am going to turn in as well. Goodnight, everyone."

As they watched the other two retreat to their individual bedrooms, neither Harry nor Ginny made any moves to get up themselves. From her position on the couch, Helga looked over at Salazar. "You have no idea how thankful I am that father never forced me into an arranged marriage. I might have actually punched him."

Salazar snorted. "I would believe it. I do believe that the first time I officially met you, I was having to pull you out of a fight with men triple your size."

Helga's face heated up. "I was eleven! Besides, it was hardly my fault. _Godric,_ dared me to confront those men. We had been spying on Rowena and the other ladies from the ball, and we were getting bored! Then those men showed up and were stealing silver and—"

"Even so, it's lucky I happened to be in the market buying supplies. " Salazar looked entirely too smug.

"Oh come on! You didn't help _that_ much!" Helga grinned, "You were only twelve, I do believe. There wasn't much more you could do that I couldn't. Luckily, Godric had been able to bail all four of us out of that mess. Although, I still blame him for getting us in it in the first place."

"True enough." Salazar conceded, then grinned. "Your father certainly wasn't pleased. The ladies got off easily enough, but he certainly seemed mad at you two."

"He was mad." Helga agreed. "But probably not as mad as you are imagining. He coddled us far too much to punish us too harshly. I was told once that since Godric's mother died in childbirth, he was spoiling Godric rotten— and me, when I arrived. Of course, _I_ didn't know how good we had it. I especially was incredibly lucky… As an illegitimate daughter, my life could certainly have been a whole lot worse than it was."

Salazar hummed in reply. "When did you move into the Gryffindor castle? I'm sure you've told me, but I can't seem to remember."

"When I was six. My mother had died from an infection when I was about five and a half. Her last act had been to write a letter to father. She gave me the letter to hand deliver and told me that I was to go to him. I didn't know what to think, I had never met father, or even knew I had a brother. They didn't know I existed either, and I didn't speak the same language as them when I did arrive. Up to that point, I had spent my whole life traveling around in what I suppose is now Scandinavia. Mama might have been a witch, but she was first and foremost a shieldmaiden. There was nothing I wanted more growing up than to be just like her.

"How is it possible that, at this point, I can barely remember her, and yet, with the return of all these memories, it hurt as though she had just died again?" Helga's voice faded as she let the question hang in the air.

Harry shook his head. "I wish I knew. I don't even know what ever happened to my mother after she abandoned me."

"Your father?"

"Never in the picture." Harry replied simply. "Like you, I was extremely lucky. If my magic hadn't been…different, I doubt I would have even made it off the streets."

Salazar continued after a pause. "I suppose we should also discuss what we want to do about 'us'. We have it easier, I think. Unlike Godric and Rowena, I don't believe I even approached your father about courting you until I was twenty."

"That sounds about right. I say we just play it by ear. I'm not sure I am ready to reenter a relationship. There is simply too much between us that needs to be talked over first."

Salazar dipped his head in agreement, but did not comment further on the topic. The two sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts.

"Do you think we can do it?" Ginny asked out of the blue.

"Beat Voldemort?" Harry glanced over at Ginny long enough to see her nod before returning his eyes to resume staring at the cream walls. "I don't see why not. At this point we know far more about him than he could ever imagine. We just have to play our cards right."

"Ever the Slytherin," Helga laughed, though there was not a drop of malice.

Salazar shot her a smirk, as he watched her from the corner of his eyes. Then, after a moment had passed, his brows furrowed and his voice turned serious, "It really is amazing what they think about us— how history is so twisted and, in some cases, so blatantly wrong about so many things…"

Helga nodded slowly. "Well, you can't blame them too much, events that might seem like yesterday for us, were in reality nearly a thousand years ago. Records get lost and destroyed; people proclaim opinions over facts…"

"I know, but still…" Salazar sighed. "I think what upsets me the most is Voldemort having the audacity to claim he is my heir. I was never unfaithful to you, and we only had one child—"

Salazar's voice broke as he lowered his head into his hands. Slowly, he ran his hands through his hair as he struggled to keep emotions in check. He took a few deep breaths to compose himself before continuing. "This is the first time I have even really thought about him since remembering. I can't believe that I haven't before now! I suppose we have all just been so focused on the war…"

Salazar had been 24 when his son, Ryons Slytherin had been born. It had been one of the most incredible moments of his life. Unfortunately, the little boy became ill, and died shortly before his second birthday. After the boy's death, both Helga and Salazar were never quite the same. It didn't help matters that Helga and Godric's father had died shortly before the death of Ryons. The result had been that Helga became a bit harder around the edges, and threw herself into her work as both a teacher and an up and coming healer, and Salazar did the same with potions.

"I miss him too." She whispered, "I cried myself to sleep the first night I really remembered him again. If Godric hadn't been there to talk to, I don't know how I would have gotten through it."

"I'm sorry it took me so long to remember." Salazar shook his head, as he shifted to an lighter topic, "I can't believe that all that time you knew. And Ron, and Hermione too. All three of you were practically adults in the bodies of children."

"I think it was worse for Hermione." Helga mused. "After all, Godric and I had each other."

Harry nodded. "Yeah. I wonder how she managed it. She was already so smart as Hermione, to add all of that knowledge she gained during her previous life… She must have been bored silly masquerading as a student at Hogwarts."

"I-I, Salazar, going back to the topic of Ryons—there's something I need to tell you."

Salazar turned his head to look questioningly at her.

"The thing is, in this case, history isn't blatantly wrong…" Helga paused for a moment as she steeled herself for what she was going to say next. "That night you disappeared? I-I was pregnant. I never even got the chance to tell you before you left."

Salazar felt the air leave his lunges. "I-I had no idea."

" _I know!_ That's why I'm telling you!" Helga looked frustrated. "Why did you even leave? I understand that you lost control of your magic, but that was no excuse..! I hope you know that I would have forgiven you, and I am sure Godric would have come around eventually."

Salazar looked flustered as he blinked a few times. "But I never… Helga, I was poisoned that evening. I did lose control of my magic, yes, but I was panicked when I started to feel the effects of the poison and I was trying to get away!"

Both Salazar and Helga sat in heavy silence as they thought about what they had each learned. Helga was the first to break the silence with a harsh whisper, "Your magic must have completely obliterated your body! It destroyed the entire house the explosion was centered around, as well as parts of the buildings surrounding it. Including you, seven people died."

Salazar nodded thoughtfully. "I figured as much… W-what was the baby's name?"

" _Their_ names were Daina and Guimond Slytherin."

"Twins?"

Helga hummed in agreement. "They were born in the middle of the summer, Daina was eldest by just a few minutes, but she always felt the need to remind her brother of that little fact. One day, after they had both just turned 6…"

~x~

The next morning dawned bright and early. Hermione was the first to rise, as usual, however when she left her room, she was a little surprised to find both Harry and Ginny still sleeping on the couch in the same spots that they had been sitting in late last night.

Harry had fallen so that his upper body was draped over the arm of the couch with his legs half curled under his body. His shoulder length hair completely obscured his face from view. On the other end of the couch, Ginny had curled into a tight ball with her legs neatly tucked under her chin.

Shaking her head in slight amusement, Hermione moved back towards the far end of the room where the fire still burned. Taking a seat in front of the fire, Hermione pulled out a journal and started to write.

It was nearly an hour before she began to hear any movement from the other occupants of the room. Behind her, Harry shifted as he let out a groan. Hermione smothered a smile as she continued writing. She would be surprised if the black haired teen was not stiff, his current sleeping position certainly did not look comfortable.

"What are you working on Rona?" Salazar's quiet voice asked from behind her. She turned her head slightly to see him out of the corner of her eye now seated in a normal position, his hands rubbing the sleep from his face.

"Nothing too exciting I'm afraid. Its just some arithmancy theory I've been playing with in my free time." She then shot him a smug grin. "Was that couch really that comfortable?"

Salazar groaned in response. "Helga and I got talking… I don't know when we actually fell asleep."

Rowena turned her head completely to regard her friend. "Helga finally told you then." It was not a question and her tone held trace amounts of ice.

Salazar rubbed a hand over his face as he fought to keep all the emotions off his face. "Yeah… I-I, yeah."

Rowena nodded shortly but dropped the subject as she turned back to her arithmancy work. After a moment, Salazar disappeared into the bathroom. When he returned, he looked far more awake and himself. The two sat in front of the fire in companionable silence while they waited for the other two to wake; Hermione scratching words into her journal and Salazar simply staring into the fire lost in thought.

Neither even noticed when Ginny quietly woke up and joined them by the fire until she spoke.

"Morning." She called sleepily as she quietly padded over to them. "It seems we fell asleep during our conversation last night."

"Yeah." Harry regarded her, "You looked far more comfortable than I was though. I'm pretty sure my back is going to be protesting for the rest of the day."

Ginny giggled, "I don't know about that. I'm feeling rather stiff myself."

Just then, one of the bedroom doors opened and Ron stepped out. He still looked half asleep and after grumbling out a greeting simply headed towards the bathroom. Salazar noticed with no surprise that Godric was now also wearing a ring on his left hand. Although, it was only a simple gold band that he had probably transfigured late last night; nothing like the extravagant Lord Gryffindor ring that he had donned later in his life.

It was nearly a half an hour later when Ron finally reemerged from the bathroom. "Are you guys ready to head down to breakfast then?" He questioned as he rejoined them.

Hermione nodded to her journal after a moment, and shut it with a dull thump. "I am." She looked up. "It is probably best if we get there early anyways. That way, we won't have to make an entrance or anything. Are you guys ready for some more acting?"

"I'm game, but is it really acting when we are pretending to be ourselves?" Salazar answered with a smirk.

Helga rolled her eyes at Salazar before focusing them on the door.

"Let's do this."

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* * *

 **AN:** So we are starting to get some back history in this chapter. I have written out huge histories for each of them, so this is only a taste of perhaps some of the most expected parts, but you can at least get a feel for the direction I am going with them.

Also, I hope you like my interactions between the four. I feel like there would be a sense of closeness, but some underlying tension which is what I am trying to show. Also, it drives me crazy how in many of the reincarnation stories, the characters immediately are together with their spouses of their past lives. I mean, they are living completely different lives now, with different circumstances! They might still love each other, but you can't simply jump back into a relationship with someone who you only 'half' know!

This story is also really turning into a character study. All four of the reborn founders are still trying to figure out who they are. I tried to show a few subtle personality changes during their conversation. One way I hinted at these changes was switching their current names to their founder names and back. I hope that wasn't confusing or anything. Their founder names will be used far more often when they are not alone.

Please don't forget to Review!

Till next time!

~Dawn


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor anything else recognizable. No profit is coming from this. I am merely playing in the sandbox of someone far more famous than myself.**

Unbetaed! Let me know if you spot any mistakes!

Without further ado, I present to you…

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 **What Went Wrong?**

~x~

 **Chapter 3:** _Introductions_

 _~x~_

The four were already seated at the high table along with a few of the professors when the students had started trickling in. Godric had opted to sit in between Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore with Rowena glued to his side. Helga, however had been waved down upon entrance into the Great Hall by Madam Pomfrey and had proceeded to engage her in what looked like a rather interesting conversation. As for Salazar, the raven haired teen had taken a seat next to Severus with a touch of hesitance that he was careful not to actually show.

His choices on seats had been rather limited. Given the choice, Harry would have preferred to sit with one of his friends or Remus. However, there had only been two seats available between McGonagall and the Headmaster, where Godric and Rowena were now seated and Salazar had not wanted to create a commotion of adding an extra place setting. Salazar supposed that he could have sat next to Helga, but he had felt that that would have come across as odd. Despite being well versed in healing magic, it wasn't exactly something that he had ever been known for. Besides, he really hadn't had any interest in the magic until his son had become ill when he was 26. So joining the conversation voluntarily at his current age was not wise if he wanted to keep up his persona, and just sitting awkwardly beside her might have come across as insecure— Something Salazar was most certainly _not._

At least, not on the outside.

As for Remus, the weary werewolf had not yet arrived by the time that the founders had... But Severus Snape had, and Salazar remembered distinctly that the potions master had been seated next to Lupin last night. Besides, wouldn't it make sense for Salazar Slytherin to want to sit next to the current head of Slytherin House? Decision made, Salazar had approached Severus with quiet confidence and asked to sit.

Very few of the students had even noticed them as they started coming through the entry. After all, most of them were still too asleep to be paying much attention to what was going on at the High Table. Salazar doubted they would even notice if a pink elephant was sitting in the same room with their current level of awareness. He shook the odd thought from his head with a slight snort as he piled some food onto his plate.

Beside him, Severus Snape gave him a questioning glance, which he purposely ignored.

"So… have you made any progress yet on returning you four home?" Severus asked after a long stretch of silence. Salazar figured the lack of conversation was finally getting to the man.

Raising an eyebrow, Salazar looked at him out of the corner of his eye, "Seeing as we have only been here for a few hours, most of which we slept..? No." he drawled.

"Of course. Well, I am sure you will begin making progress in no time. " Severus replied smoothly as he took a sip of his tea.

Salazar hummed in responce.

"We will be cleaning up our Chambers first." He murmured after a moment. "We intend to use it as our base of study. That way, we will not be getting in the way of normal schooling operations, and can focus on getting home."

Severus nodded silently, but Salazar could see the interested gleam in his eyes.

"Perhaps, after we get the place cleaned up a bit, you and some of the other professors can come join us down in the Chambers for a cup of tea." he added, as he watched for the potions master's reaction, "We don't typically let anyone down into the Chambers with us, but seeing as we shouldn't actually be alive during this time period, I don't see why we can't make an exception. After all, once we return, it is not like anyone will be able to use the Chambers."

It was amazing how little reaction and emotion the Potions Master actually showed. Harry had long known of the potions master's role as a spy, and master Occlumens, but it still amazed him to see such skill. Not for the first time, Salazar wondered if this was what people thought when they looked at him.

"That is true." Severus replied, "The Chamber of Secrets has mostly fallen into myth these days."

"Mostly?" Salazar asked with a touch of deliberate amusement.

"Mostly." Severus repeated. "I do believe that I am not supposed to tell you anything about modern times."

Salazar leaned back in his chair. "I wasn't asking. Simply curious about the odd choice of words. How something can be ' _mostly'_ a myth is beyond me."

Severus dipped his head. "Most of what we know about your illusive Chambers is shrouded in rumors, however, there was an incident some fifty years ago, where someone may or may not have actually gained access into your Chambers."

Salazar narrowed his eyes. "I thought you weren't supposed to tell me anything?"

"I doubt that tidbit of information will have any real consequences. Besides, if you are going into the Chambers and it has been disrupted recently, at least now you will have some idea as to why."

Salazar nodded, however he did not try and push the topic any further. It wasn't much, but inwardly Salazar was cheering that at least _that_ seemed to be the same. Salazar did have to wonder, however, why Snape had not mentioned the incident regarding the Chambers that had occurred in his second year. Shrugging it off, Salazar returned his attention to what was happening around him, just in time to see Remus Lupin sit down on the other side of Snape with a tired greeting.

Salazar took a moment to drink in the sight of his former mentor. The man looked much like he had remembered, but there was a spark in his eyes still present that hadn't been there for the later part of the war. The werewolf had been one of the later victims of the war, but it had still been a crushing blow for Harry to realize that the last link he had had to his parents was dead.

But now he wasn't.

No. The man was now sitting in front of him no worse for wear than Harry had ever seen him. Tired, perhaps, but Harry knew that that was completely normal for the man.

"Good morning, Severus!" Remus said as he took his seat. Salazar let a small smirk creep onto his face to hide any hints of emotion his powerful occlumency couldn't contain as the werewolf regarded him curiously. "Who is your friend?"

"Lupin." Snape greeted in return. He glanced over at Salazar before answering the question. "You do remember the four individuals who arrived last night? They will be staying at Hogwarts until they can find a way to return to their home."

"Right! Of course!" Remus exclaimed as his eyes took in the raven haired teen. Salazar held his breath. So far, it seemed that nobody had been able to recognize any of the four of them for who they were. However, if any of the four of them were to be recognized, Salazar knew it would be him.

After all, of the four, the only real differences between his current looks, and what he had looked like as 'just Harry' was a lack of glasses and longer hair. He still looked _just_ like his dad in physique and had the same piercing green eyes he had always had.

"My name is Remus Lupin." Lupin continued. Salazar let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. "I teach Defense against the Dark Arts."

"A pleasure." Salazar murmured in return. His eyes scanned the four tables carefully and let them settle on Pansy Parkinson. _No. This can't be third year, otherwise, how could Pansy be wearing a Prefect badge?_ Salazar let his eyes drift back to Lupin as he decided to ask a question that would probably sound like something _Salazar_ would ask, " _Defense_ against the Dark Arts? What a peculiar subject to teach students."

Beside him, he felt Severus stiffen.

Salazar had to fight to keep from laughing. He was pretty sure that that was the biggest reaction that he had received from the Potions Master so far. Covering up with a slight smirk, Salazar continued in a low methodical voice "My name is Salazar Slytherin."

Salazar could see Remus freeze in his chair at his name. "Y-you're—How..?"

"Myself and my three companions seem to be the victims of a time traveling device not working as it should have. It had been a project of mine and Rowena's. Hopefully, it will not take too much time for the two of us to figure out how to send us back and we will be out of your hair once more."

"The other founders are here as well?" Remus breathed with a touch of awe. Salazar couldn't help the amusement that flickered on his face, and he raised an eyebrow.

"Of course. You were here when all _four_ of us arrived last night, were you not?"

"Right! O-Of course! I just thought—" Remus stammered as he looked further down the High Table as if trying to spot the other three founders. Salazar had to suppress a chuckle. Despite all the hardships that the man had had to deal with growing up, Remus could be such a big kid sometimes.

"You seemed surprised at the class Professor Lupin teaches," Severus interrupted, taking the attention off the still stunned werewolf, "Did you four not teach such a class in your time?"

Salazar shook his head. "No. There was no need to, and to be honest, I am not entirely sure how one would learn 'defense' of them. I am rather surprised that it is necessary in the future, to be truthful. The Dark Arts were quite rare in my time."

"Rare?" Severus sounded surprised.

"Quite. Last I checked, very few magic users were still capable of using the Olde Magicks."

Before Severus could question him further, the Headmaster stood, and the noisy Hall fell to silence. Looking around, Salazar was a bit surprised to see so many faces sitting at the tables. He hadn't realized how many students had entered during his conversation with the two Professors.

"If I could have your attention. As I am sure you all remember, four individuals arrived last night during dinner here in the Great Hall. After talking to these individuals, I have decided to grant them accommodation until they can return to their own time."

Dumbledore paused for a moment as the student population erupted with murmurs.

"Yes. Our four guests are from far in the past, and I am sure that you will be most delighted by their names. Seated next to me is the infamous Godric Gryffindor and next to him is Rowena Ravenclaw. Further down by Madam Pomfrey you will find Helga Hufflepuff. And finally, sitting next to Professor Snape is Salazar Slytherin."

All throughout this speech, Dumbledore was made to pause multiple times as the Great Hall erupted with chatter.

With a gracious nod towards their enthusiasm and a twinkle in his eyes, Dumbledore continued, "Now, I know you are all excited, but I must ask of you to be mindful of the fact that they are from the past. It is very important that we do not give them information of current events because it might have untold consequences on historical events.

"With that said, I am sure you are all dying to hear from our guests of honor! Perhaps you four would like to tell the students a little bit about yourselves?"

While the question was addressed to all four of them, it was clear to anyone that Dumbledore was asking Godric directly. Out of the corner of his eye, Salazar saw Severus look between him and the Headmaster with narrowed eyes. Salazar made sure to keep his face blank.

If he was honest, it did bother him a little bit. He was rather used to being the leader and spokesman of their little group of four… But that had been in their old time. Where he was Harry Potter— their _Savior_ , not a notoriously dark wizard. Here, he was nothing but a black smudge in history. It was not exactly surprising that Godric would be the one who took up the spotlight here.

And Salazar could respect that. After all, hadn't he always wished to be out of the limelight? He had _hated_ his fame growing up as the boy-who-lived. Ron, on the other hand had always seemed to enjoy the attention from his peers. So perhaps this would be a good change.

Salazar leaned back in his seat, perfectly willing to let his best mate take the center stage. Ron glanced over at him once as if he too were unsure about this new arrangement, but after a moment, he seemed to come to a decision and, squaring his shoulders, he addressed the Great Hall.

"Greetings, students of Hogwarts," Godric began, his voice strong, "As the Headmaster so graciously introduced us, I am Godric and beside me is my lovely wife, Rowena. I must say! Never in our wildest dreams did we ever think that our little school would grow to be this big! Granted, we only opened the school two years ago back in our time.

Upon opening the school, we were only graced with two students— one of which was a traveler whom only stayed a few months. Currently we have a grand total of eight students. Unlike you guys, who seem to be grouped by age, our students range from all ages, levels and backgrounds."

Godric paused for a second, as he pondered what to say next. It was decided for him, however when a student from one of the four tables yelled out a question. If Salazar had to bet, he would guess that the question came from the Gryffindor table.

"Just how old are you lot right now?"

"Our ages?" Godric looked bemused. "I am currently 22. Rowena is 19, Salazar is 18 and my little sister is 17."

"You are only 18?" Salazar heard Severus whisper from his right.

Without turning his head, Salazar nodded. "You seem surprised." Salazar whispered back, "Do I really look that old?"

"No. I just realized how young you four must have been when you opened Hogwarts."

Salazar turned his full attention onto the potions master. Sitting beside Snape, Lupin looked just as interested in the whispered conversation happening between them. "Perhaps young for this time, but in our era, we were all considered old enough to take on such a project. Besides, from what I have been able to discern, Hogwarts was very different then from what has become normal in this time. In our time, studying at Hogwarts was more like entering into an intensive apprenticeship."

Salazar turned his attention back on the rest of the Great Hall just in time to hear another question being yelled out to Godric. This question seemed to come from those wearing green and silver.

"How do you teach classes if there are only eight students? Is the instruction one-on-one?"

"Not necessarily one-on-one." Godric responded. "But none of us really teach _subjects_ as I have come to understand that your professors do here. I mean, of course we all have our preferred subjects, but we tend to teach jointly, and our subjects range based on what topics we wish to teach that particular day."

"Because the school is so new, we have not yet set up an actual curriculum." Salazar whispered to his companions. "Perhaps if we get more students, it will become necessary to do so."

"Then what subjects do each of you prefer?" This question _definitely_ came from Ravenclaw.

Godric grinned. "I think I will let my friends answer for themselves, but I prefer weapons training, transfiguration, and assault/protection magic."

Beside him, Rowena spoke up, "Well, there is very little magic that I _dislike_ , but my favorite subjects are arithmancy, ancient runes, and the study of the creation of spells and magical devices. I have yet to have a student gifted enough to begin learning about the latter however. Helga?"

"That was a good question!" Helga said, "But also a hard one… Well, like my brother, I quite like training in weapons. However, charms is perhaps my favorite magical subject, and being emphatic, I absolutely love working with magical creatures. I have also recently been studying healing and herbology, and while they are not my favorite subjects, I am rather gifted in them."

After Helga went quiet, tension seemed to build as the whole Hall appeared to hold it's breath in anticipation of what the elusive fourth founder would have to say on this particular subject. Salazar rolled his eyes inwardly. _So much for not being a center of attention!_

"I agree with Helga," He started slowly, choosing his words carefully, "That was a very good question. As for my preferred subjects, I am very apt at mind magics and ritual based magics, and along with Godric, I quite enjoy assault/protection magic. I have also recently started to self study potions."

The Hall stayed silent after Salazar had stopped talking. Salazar couldn't help but wonder if it was because he had not mentioned that he liked the Dark Arts or some silly notion such as that. It wouldn't surprised him, to be honest.

Salazar subtly glanced over at Godric, only to see his friend looking back at him with slightly narrowed eyes. So his friend had noticed his slight omission of a certain type of magic he was capable of. No matter, he figured Godric would understand why he didn't exactly want to open _that_ can of worms.

"I have a question for you, if I may," Professor Flitwick asked Godric from the other side of Dumbledore. "All four of you have different last names, and yet, you have clearly called Lady Hufflepuff your sister, and Lady Ravenclaw, your wife. How exactly is that?"

Godric smiled softly. "Rowena and I were arranged to be married by our parents when we were very young. Both of our families are very old with high society standings, and have had magical blood for many generations. Unfortunately, Rowena was the only Ravenclaw left to pass on the family line due to her father dying shortly after she was born. Before his passing, our fathers were very good friends, and it is for that reason, that my father agreed with her mother to make an amendment to the original marriage agreement. In order for the ancient bloodline of Ravenclaw to continue, it was written into the marriage agreement that at least one of our children would carry the name 'Ravenclaw'.

"As we got older, Rowena and I decided that it would be simpler to just turn her line into a makeshift Matriarchy. That way, we wouldn't have to choose which of our future children take which name. The girls will get Ravenclaw and the Boys will become Gryffindors. To further this, Rowena decided to keep her name as well. It also makes it easier for us to be distinguished when we are teaching, and gives her some respect when she is tending to duties regarding the Ravenclaw estate. During gatherings we are required to attended due to my status as the Heir of Gryffindor House, Rowena is often still referred to as the next Lady Gryffindor, however.

"As for Helga, she is my half-sister." Godric continued. "Since she is technically an illegitimate child of my fathers, she took her mothers byname instead of our family name."

"Except," Helga spoke up, cutting her brother off from continuing, " _Hufflepuff_ was not my mother's name. My mother's name was actually Haugabrjotr. But seeing as _Godric_ couldn't actually pronounce that, he told me I should change it to 'Hufflepuff'. I don't think he actually thought I'd accept!"

"Where was your mother from?" Professor McGonagall asked curiously.

"She was Norse." Helga responded instantly.

Salazar snorted slightly before whispering under his breath, "She was a _Viking._ "

Out of the corner of his eye, Salazar watched as Severus tensed in surprise and Remus' eyes seemed to bulge.

"How did you acquire Hogwarts?" Another curious voice piped up from the Hall. Salazar was pretty sure that this question also came from a Ravenclaw.

"Hogwarts was given to Helga actually, by my father." Godric started. He paused for a minute as surprised voices murmured to their peers. Even the professors seemed a bit dumbfounded by the revelation. "Yes. It is rather unorthodox— seeing as she is both female and illegitimate— but my father isn't really one to follow the norms of society. Otherwise, Helga here would have actually been raised to be a _proper_ lady." Down the High Table, Helga let out a rather unladylike snort of laughter and from beside Godric, Rowena sniffed in mock disdain. "As it is, we are his only two children, and it is already well known that I will be inheriting the rather extensive Gryffindor lands and— despite my wife officially being in charge of the Ravenclaw lands— I am often Rowena's spokesman, and stand in her stead during important meetings. My father inherited this old castle and the lands surrounding it, and decided to pass it on to Helga knowing that I would already have my hands full. It was her choice to use it to found the school we all wanted to start so badly."

"And since it is my castle. I chose the name!" Helga announced proudly. "It is an old viking tradition to give things hideous names, because they scare off gnomes and trolls."

"Alright! I think that that is enough questions for now." Albus stated, bringing the attention back to him. His eyes twinkled merrily, "Not to worry, I am sure you will all have chances later to ask more questions, however I do believe that if you do not hurry of to class now, you are all going to be late!"

As one, the students all seemed to turn into a blur of motion as they shoved the rest of their breakfast into their mouths and hurried towards the doors, chatting and talking amongst themselves all the while. Many were still glancing up at the High Table as they did so. Salazar shook his head in amusement at their antics. He couldn't help but wonder when they would realize that they couldn't technically get in trouble for being late when all their teachers were still seated. None of said teachers had made any large moves towards the doors yet either.

"Sal! You ready to get started?" Salazar turned his head to see Godric standing up from his seat along with Rowena. Helga also seemed to be gearing up to leave.

"It seems that I will be taking my leave." He regarded both Snape and Remus, but his eyes lingered on the werewolf a moment longer. "Thank you both for sharing this meal with me. It was most pleasurable."

Without waiting for a response, Salazar stood and rejoined the others. "We are heading down to the Chambers now, I presume?"

"Of course." Godric replied with a grin, "Ready for some hard labor, Salazar?"

Salazar responded with a slight mock glare, "Are you?"

"Would it be possible for me to accompany you?" Dumbledore asked hesitantly, cutting off any retort Godric could have come up with. "I understand that you have always kept your Chambers rather private, but surely you wouldn't turn down an extra helping hand?"

The four looked at each other for a moment before shrugging, "I don't see why not." Rowena spoke up, "It probably won't be much to look at though. I doubt the Chambers have seen much care in at least the last 100 years if your reaction yesterday concerning them is true."

~x~

After a short walk, the four wandered into the hallway containing the Chamber's entrance with the Headmaster slowly trailing them. Acting with seeming confusion, the four made their way into the Second Floor Girl's Lavatory.

"This is most definitely different from our time." Salazar muttered as he looked around the Lavatory. Even with his talent in Mind Magic, he struggled with keeping the grin off his face, at the Headmaster's obvious bafflement. Just to be on the safe side, he turned his back on Dumbledore as he pretended to scrutinize the sink area. "Is this some sort of indoor latrine?"

It was a moment before Dumbledore answered. "Yes, I suppose it is. Was there no sewage system in Hogwarts during your time?"

Salazar ran his hand along the sink that he knew would open the Chamber. "We had a sewage system, yes, but nothing anywhere near this advanced. And it was most certainly not _here._ " Glancing back at the others, Salazar decided to do the honors.

" _Open._ " He hissed. The ancient magic immediately responded to his voice, and the sinks began to reshape themselves into an entrance.

Behind him, both Dumbledore and Godric tensed at his blatant usage of Parseltongue. Godric gave him a slightly annoyed glare and Salazar shrugged in response. It wasn't his fault that his password for the Chambers had to be said in Parseltongue.

Well... then again, maybe it was.

"Shall we go then?" Godric asked as he pushed forward towards the Chamber's opening. Standing in front of the opening, Godric waved his wand silently, and the ground beneath them shifted to form stairs down into the depths. He strode forward down into the darkness, leaving the others to follow behind. Behind him, Salazar heard Rowena mutter a complex spell for light.

Upon reaching the bottom, Salazar lit some of the torches lining the hall entry. He wrinkled his nose in disgust. He had remembered the Chambers being in a bad state during his second year, but not _this_ bad. The once beautifully painted walls were now a crumbling moldy mess, and the floors were littered with dead vermin. The smell was perhaps the worst part: the stale air positively _reeked_ of decay and dampness.

A constant dripping sound could be heard in the background, and Salazar took a moment to wonder how the entire place hadn't completely caved in with water. Like the Slytherin Dorms, their Chambers were partly under the lake. However unlike any other part of Hogwarts interior, their Chambers was something that they had entirely formed into the school from scratch. It had taken a lot of magic and time, but overall it was something that they were all mutually proud of. Salazar figured that that was the only reason that the Chambers were still standing: if the Chambers had not had so much magic imbued into them, who knows how long they would have lasted.

"What a mess!" Helga groaned as she stepped down from the final step. She quickly got to work vanishing the vermin, and the others soon followed suit.

" _Who dares disturb…Must kill…Death…Hungry…Food?…Lonely now…Fresh blood? Let me rip!"_ The near constant mutterings sounded on the edge of Salazar's hearing. He immediately froze.

"She is still alive." Salazar breathed, in slight shock. Then added, in order to keep any suspicion under wraps. "After all these years…"

"Your basilisk?" Godric asked, his eyes widening. "How is that even possible?"

Salazar didn't answer. Inside his mind was whirling too fast to respond coherently.

' _How was this possible?'_ Salazar was certain that he had killed the giant, somewhat insane snake during his second year. His stomach tightened in realization that he would likely be forced to kill his once friend again. At least when he had been twelve, he hadn't had to remember her while he had slain her.

Cyrene— as he had named her, after the city where a basilisk had once been documented— had been a rather small snake when she first came into his life. He had found her on Hogwart's grounds and had scooped her up before she could accidentally harm anyone.

Over the years, he— and the other founders to an extent— had become rather fond of her. And she had in turn been dubbed Hogwart's protector. It had even been due to her existence that the famous Hogwart's motto 'Never tickle a sleeping dragon' had come from. Of course, she wasn't technically a dragon, but the basilisk was related to the wyvern, so it sort of worked.

Once upon a time, the little snake had had a wonderful disposition, but Salazar assumed that after so many years, the isolation had driven her insane. She could get out of the Chambers into the forest to hunt, of course, but she knew better than to bother any of its residents and to remain unseen.

Taking a deep breath, Salazar finally turned to the others. "I am going to call out to her, but be warned, she doesn't exactly sound sane."

Not waiting to see their reactions, Salazar turned back to face the direction he could still here her mutterings from. " _Cyrene? Is that you?_ "

The muttering instantly stopped, but she didn't reply. Tensing slightly, Salazar pulled out an ornate dagger that he had kept hidden under his cloak. Behind him, Salazar could hear Godric unsheathing his sword as well. He decided to try again, " _Cyrene?_ "

" _Who dares interrupt me!"_ She finally responded, sounding a lot closer than she was previously. Salazar's hand tightened on his dagger. " _Who dares to think that they are worthy of calling me by that name!?_ "

" _Cyrene, it is me! Salazar! I mean you no harm. It is a long story as to how I have come to be this far in the future, but it is me! I swear it!_ "

" _I don't believe you! Salazar died long ago, and now his Heir carries on his noble duty! I listen only to the Heir! Begone traitor! I shall enjoy ripping the flesh from the body of you and your companions!_ "

Salazar closed his eyes for a moment before speaking in English once more, "She is too far gone. We are going to have to put her down."

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* * *

 **AN:** I couldn't help it… The name Helga is Scandinavian. The Viking Age occurred between approximately 800-1050 AD. _The Founders lived right in the center of that period!_ Honestly, there was no way that Helga could _not_ have some Viking heritage in my story.

For those curious, the word Haugabrjotr means 'Grave Robber' (at least, that is what most of the online translations are saying…), and while it was more of a byname than a surname, it was the best 'viking-esk' name I could find that started with an 'H'. -Shrugs-

Also, I mentioned it before, but I am using many ideas, concepts, and even will mention characters(later) from the tv show _Merlin_. I stand by the fact that this is not a crossover(more, I am using the show like it is part of the wizarding world's history), and no knowledge from the show is necessary, but don't be surprised if you spot anything from it. I do not claim to own any of it.

Did anyone like/notice the nod towards 'How To Train Your Dragon?' ~I love that movie!

Till next time!

~Dawn


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Merlin nor anything else recognizable. No profit is coming from this. I am merely playing in the sandbox of someone far more famous than myself.**

Unbetaed.

Without further ado, I present to you…

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 **What Went Wrong?**

~x~

 **Chapter 4:** _Dreamless Draught_

 _~x~_

"Exoculo!"

Salazar released the spell quickly as soon as the giant snake came into view. He was careful to keep his eyes off centered as the rather dark spell whipped out from his wand. Having had no chance to dodge, the sickly orange spell hit the overgrown snake right in the face, causing her to reel back in surprise and pain as her eyes were instantly destroyed beyond repair.

If Salazar had allowed himself even a moment to think about what his spell was going to do, he doubted that he would have actually been able to release the curse. As it was, his spell had flown true, and in a matter of seconds, he had utterly destroyed his old friend's eyes. He had gotten the idea from Fawkes. The last time he had had to defeat the overgrown snake, it had been Fawkes who had destroyed her eyes, and he did not doubt for a moment that he would have never been able to come out on top if it had not been for the phoenix's well thought out aid.

Unfortunately, this time, he couldn't rely on the bird to do the dirty work for him.

He had to remind himself a few times that it was necessary— that the snake before him was far too dangerous to be shown any mercy. It still made him a bit sick to his stomach however. Salazar was sure that this battle would make appearances in his sleep in the coming nights; more so than his first battle with Cyrene had.

He made a note to himself to brew some Dreamless Draught as soon as he possible.

Upon releasing the spell, Salazar had only a moment to roll out of the way before Cyrene's large head arched through the space he had just been inhabiting.

" _My eyes! What did you do to me? Traitors! I'll eat you all!_ " Cyrene cried in panicked pain as she continued to twist her head this way and that while she snapped at the empty air. By this point, both Rowena and Dumbledore— with her coaxing— had retreated up a few of the stairs, leaving Helga, Godric and Salazar alone to fight Cyrene.

Typically Rowena would be right in the middle of the action too, but seeing as basilisks' hides were highly resistant to magic, and she wasn't carrying any weapons besides a wand, there was not much she could do to aid her friends in this particular fight. Besides, Salazar had already beaten her to the one place that they could get a spell to work to its full extent. Her eyes.

Beside him, Godric was already bearing his sword at the snake, ready to make a move as soon as he saw an opening. Out of the corner of his eye, Salazar could see Helga too, axe already in hand as she slowly moved into position on the other side of the Hall. Between the three of them, they had already boxed in the blinded snake. There was no chance of Cyrene escaping now.

Her fate was sealed.

With a quick thrust, Helga brought her axe down hard on the still thrashing basilisk's tail. Causing the snake to let out another piercing scream of pain. Salazar cringed slightly at the sound, but otherwise kept his position in front of her head. In short session, the raven haired teen released another two spells aimed directly for the snakes opened mouth. While neither was capable of doing much damage against her, aiming for the open mouth insured that the snake at least felt the attacks. Besides, their intention was more to keep Cyrene's attention on him, rather than his two friends, who were wielding weapons far better for this sort of fight.

True, Salazar was still holding his dagger in his right hand— his wand now being held in his left— but such a short weapon was far too risky to use on an enemy who held such poison. Harry knew from experience that it was no fun to be poisoned by a basilisk.

Not a moment after the two spells made impact with Cyrene's mouth, did Godric finally strike. Moving as quick as lightning, the red haired man jumped into action, bringing his famous sword down hard on the snake, right behind where her head ended and Salazar knew her trachea resided.

The massive snake went down in one blow.

' _It's amazing how much easier it was to bring her down with three adults facing her rather than a single child_ ,' Harry mused humorlessly.

Cyrene's head slammed onto the grimy ground with a dull thump unmoving, her sightless eyes staring unseeingly into the distance. The only sign that she was still alive, if barely, was the rasping breaths that she took.

Salazar hesitantly stepped forward, closing the small distance he had kept from the snake. Cautiously, he knelt down, placing the hand that had previously been holding his wand on her snout.

" _I'm sorry._ " He whispered to her in Parselmouth. " _I'm so sorry, Cyrene._ "

"… _Salazar?_ " Cyrene asked somewhat delirious. Her voice was barely audible as she struggled to breathe let alone speak.

" _Y-yeah_." Salazar choked back. His vision blurred as his eyes filled with tears. No. He couldn't afford to cry now. Too much was at stake. " _I'm here._ "

" _I've kept the school safe…._ "

" _I know you did._ " Salazar whispered, " _You did a great job… Y-you deserve to rest now…_ "

" _All right. Goodbye, Salazar._ " She murmured in reply. To Salazar, her voice sounded almost sleepy, rather than weak due to her injury. She seemed to take one last heaving breath before finally falling quiet. Salazar gently rubbed his palm in soft circles on her nose, as he struggled to keep control of his emotions.

"Goodbye, my friend." Salazar said quietly, reverting back to English.

He remained kneeled in front of the large snake, unaware of how fast or slow time was passing around him until he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. Blinking his eyes hard, Salazar turned his bowed head slightly until he could see Godric's brown boots standing next to him.

His friend didn't say anything, simply offered his quiet support as Salazar fought to regain his composure. It was another moment before Salazar slowly rose to his feet. With a slight nod of thanks towards Godric, Salazar turned to face the others once more.

"That was some pretty dark magic, Lord Slytherin." Dumbledore said after a moment.

Salazar was not going to deal with the subject of dark magic now. Even with Godric's support, he was still far too emotional after Cyrene's death. He doubted he could keep up his mask, let alone stay in character if such a topic were to arise.

"I did what had to be done." He stated quietly with a touch of finality as he turned his back on the others. "Shall we continue then?"

Without waiting for a reply, Salazar stepped around the snake's giant carcass and moved further into the Chambers. "We can come back at a later time and clean up the mess here."

Nobody needed to ask what Salazar was referring to by that exactly.

~x~

It was nearing Dinner time before the group of five finally left the Chambers. Between the five of them, they had made a lot of progress on restoring their Chamber's to their former glory, but all of them knew that it would take far more work before the Chambers could be deemed habitable once again.

Thus, as they were passing through the Girl's Lavatory once more, Dumbledore graciously offered them to stay in the room they had slept in the night before, until such a time as they could finally _safely_ move back into their Chambers.

All four founders had been a bit relieved at the notion.

They might have made leaps of progress in cleaning the vermin and mold out of their primary rooms, along with replenishing wards and other required tasks, but no matter how many fresh air charms they cast, it didn't seem to completely get rid of the awful smell. Plus, there was still a lack of usable furniture and other necessities that the five had simply been to tired to start conjuring.

So, perhaps their one day project would become a two day project. Salazar still figured it would be worth it in the end.

Dinner passed by as a rather forgettable event, especially compared to the excitement of the morning. Salazar had once again left his friends to go and sit next to Professor Snape. Godric had given him a slightly annoyed look when the black haired teen had voluntarily veered away from his friends to join the aloof Potions Master, but Salazar shrugged it off. After all, it made more sense for him to sit with the older man, than it did with his fellow founders. It's not like they could talk about the things that they really needed to discuss here in public. No, any personal conversations would have to wait until they were away from prying ears in their suite.

Besides, Salazar actually needed to talk to Snape. Due to the somewhat slow going in regards to cleaning up their chambers, Salazar had not even had a chance to start cleaning up his own private potions lab. So, unfortunately for him, he had no place to brew that Sleeping Draught that he had decided he needed earlier. Thus, it was his hope that he might be able to peruse the Professor's classroom for the evening.

Despite him needing to talk, the two Slytherins sat in silence for the majority of the mean. It was not until dinner was just wrapping up, and students were starting to get up to leave that Salazar finally opened his mouth to speak.

"Severus," he started quietly, catching the Potions Master's attention. "Would it be possible for me to impose on your classroom this evening? I find myself in need of a potion, and nowhere to brew it."

If the potion master was surprised by the request, he didn't show it. "Of course. However, why don't you join me in my more private lab? Madam Pomfrey has requested a number of potions to replenish her stocks in the Hospital Ward that I had intended to finish brewing tonight."

Salazar nodded slowly. "That would be acceptable. Thank you." He paused for a minute as he allowed his eyes to drift down the High Table, "Would it be agreeable for me to follow you to your lab now?"

"That would be fine." Severus agreed starting to stand. "I was planning on getting started right after dinner anyways."

"Thank you." Salazar said. "Allow me a moment first to let my friends know where I will be."

Without waiting for a response, Salazar stood up from his chair and moved along the High Table to where the other three were seated.

"Hey," he murmured, upon getting into ear shot, "I am going to go with Severus for a few hours. He has allowed me to use his potion lab."

Godric's eyes flashed and he opened his mouth to say something but before he could, Rowena placed her hand on his upper arm, causing him to shut his mouth once more.

"All right Salazar." She replied knowingly. "We will see you later this evening then?"

Salazar dipped his head in concurrence before turning on his heels and heading back to Severus, who by now had stood up from his own seat and moved a few paces closer towards the door.

"Ready?" the older man asked as Salazar neared. Salazar merely nodded and followed the man out of the Great Hall and towards the dungeons.

The two of them walked in companionable silence past where Salazar knew the Slytherin common room was located and deeper into the dungeons until Severus finally stopped in front of a portrait of a stern looking man. The man looked down his nose at the two of them while he waited for the password.

" _Prince_." The password was whispered, but Salazar still managed to make out what was said. He could only wonder if Severus had _meant_ for him to hear. It still boggled his mind that the older man was actually being nice to him. Harry had to keep reminding himself that Snape had no clue who he really was. If he did, Harry was certain that he would never be allowed the privilege of seeing the potions master's private potion laboratory, let alone _using_ it. Regardless to whether this was true or not, the painting clicked open, and Salazar made to follow the older man into the room.

Harry was careful to keep his face blank as he looked around what must have been Snape's personal living quarters. Instead of stepping into a laboratory, the two had passed into a sitting room. It was far warmer than he had expected his Potions Professor to ever reside in. With a color scheme of dark greens and browns, and with inviting furniture situated around a crackling fire, the room held a sense of peace that Salazar would never have associated with the aloof man. Shaking his head slightly to clear his thoughts, Salazar looked questioningly at the man in question.

Severus merely continued through the room, passing through a door in the back right corner of the room, "This way."

Salazar carefully stepped forward as he moved to follow the Potions Master. The next room they entered was most defiantly a potions lab, and while a bit smaller, it was a far nicer one than the classroom by a large margin.

The room was painted a soft grey color, with a few wooden tables arranged within the room a bit haphazardly. Lining the walls were various potions tools and there was one more door leading from the small lab. Salazar assumed that this was where Severus kept his ingredients. On the far wall, a few cauldrons bubbled with potions already in progress. Salazar assumed that Snape had placed them under stasis charms earlier that day. They let out a soothing bubbling sound that gave the small lab a sense of peace. After a moment, Salazar turned his focus back on the potions professor.

Severus began to speak as soon as he saw that he had Salazar's attention. "I keep my spare cauldrons over by that far wall. Potion ingredients are kept in the store room to the right. Please feel free to use whatever you need."

Salazar nodded as he moved over to where the caldrons were kept. "Thank you. I truly appreciate your generosity."

With quiet confidence, Salazar began getting all the supplies he would need for his potion. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Snape had gone back to working on the potions that had indeed been placed under stasis charms.

The two worked in silence for a time. The Dreamless Draught was a rather easy potion, especially for someone of his level, but it still required time for the ingredients to set correctly. After reaching a point where his potion needed to stand for a bit without interference, he quickly cast a spell to alert him to when the potion would once again need his attention before leaning back on his feet.

During his time studying potions in Hogwarts, Harry had always had to sit while working on his potions, however now that he was Salazar once more, he remembered how much easier it was for him to remain standing whilst he worked. Salazar spared a glance over to where Snape was still slaving away on the four separate cauldrons.

"Do you need any help?" He called after watching the Potions Master for a long minute. "My potion needs to be left undisturbed for a little while."

Snape did not take his attention off of his work when he responded. "Could you stir the Calming Draught? It should be nearing its completion."

Salazar nodded— even though he knew that Snape couldn't see him— and made his way over to the cauldrons Snape had been working on. Peering at the three potions that Snape was not currently focused on, it was easy to tell which one was the Calming Draught. Salazar agreed that the potion was indeed near completion. Picking up the ladle from the counter, he carefully stirred the potion counterclockwise precisely three and a half times until the potion began to take on the correct see through aqua tint.

Setting the wooden spoon back down, Salazar swiftly cast the spell that would finish the potion and took it off the fire. After insuring that the potion was indeed perfect, he turned his attention back to Snape.

"Its done. Would you like me to phial and label it?"

Severus, after giving the potion he was still working on one last stir, turned to give the Calming Draught a courtesy look. "Please. My glass phials are over in that drawer."

Salazar made his way over to said drawer and carefully pulled out a cardboard box full of phials. He carefully brought it over to where he had left the cauldron full of Calming Draught and placed it nearby on the counter. With careful, experienced hands, he began to ladle the potion into the phials.

"How often do you do this?" Salazar asked after a moment. He had never really taken the time to wonder how much work Snape put in to brewing potions for the school outside of his regular duties as professor and Head of Slytherin.

And spy…

"Once a month." The professor responded. "More, if there is a particularly nasty cold or illness sweeping the school. Did you not brew potions for the school yourself?"

"I did." Salazar replied. "But our student numbers were far lower, remember. Most of the time I spent in my lab was trying to self teach myself. The mentor who taught me growing up was godawful at potions, so he was no help."

"Who was your mentor?"

Salazar grinned wickedly, but didn't respond right away. "I don't think you would believe me if I told you. He was already rather famous in my time, I think he is rather legendary now."

"Try me." Severus countered, finally glancing at his companion.

"Merlin." Salazar finally replied with a slight smirk. He glanced over at Snape, but unfortunately, the man was hiding any reaction he might have had by turning his head back to the potion he was working on.

"Alright, I do admit I find that hard to believe." The man mused after a moment.

Salazar chuckled and shook his head. "I figured you might. I have heard some of the interesting swears that the wizards of this age seem fond of using. It almost sounds like your age views him like a god. I doubt your age's portrayal of him is all that accurate anyways. He might have been powerful, but all else aside, he was still human. And flawed."

Severus didn't comment, however he did make a humming sound in agreement.

Salazar continued. "I was rather lucky. I doubt I would have even met the others if it had not been for him."

"How did you meet him?" Snape asked suddenly.

Salazar didn't answer for a long moment. When he did, his voice had turned serious and quieter. "I was abandoned by my mother when I was about four, maybe five. She had taken me to a rather large town market, about a days journey from our home, and told me to wait in the square. It took me three days to realize that she wasn't coming back. I never knew my father, and judging on how many men my mother kept company with, I doubt she even knew.

"I lived off the streets for nearly a year and a half before he found me. I had learned to survive by stealing and doing the odd job for a coin or two. When I first arrived, the townspeople were rather kind. I think they felt bad for me honestly. As time passed on however, my magic began to make random appearances. I could control it to an extent, but I was still a child and had no focus like a wand yet. Regardless, my magic was different, and that allowed me a margin of control over what most would deem 'accidental magic'."

Salazar took a deep breath before continuing. He wasn't really sure why he was telling _Snape_ of all people so much personal information about himself but for some reason or other, he couldn't seem to shut up. It was nice to finally talk about all the memories that had been plaguing him the last few years.

"My magic was both a blessing and a curse. I learned to use it to help steal food and get out of trouble, but at the same time, as the townspeople began to realize I could do unnatural things I was quickly outcasted. Nobody wanted anything to do with an abandoned child that could possibly be doing magic. I don't know how magic is viewed in the non magical communities of this era, but back then it was often viewed as the demon arts and punishable by death.

"Thus, I started having to rely more and more on magic to survive, get food, and later protect myself. I was pretty handy with a knife by the time I turned 6, but other than that I only had magic to rely on.

"Merlin happened to be passing through the town in which I resided at a point when I had really gotten into trouble. I had been caught stealing and had been surrounded by three guards. Scared for my life, I had blasted them away, managing to knock out two of the three of them. Merlin seeing what was going on knocked out the third.

I don't think he would have spared me a second glance had I not called out to him first. As I would learn later, Merlin had become extremely depressed and nomadic after Arthur had died, cursed to wander the Earth until the prophesied Once and Future King finally returned. But anyways, I called out asking how he had knocked the person out with magic. I then claimed I had magic too, and to highlight this, summoned my knife— which I had dropped earlier— to my hand.

"As I mentioned earlier, my magic is a bit different. As I'm sure you know. Children should not be able to display that level of control over magic without a foci. I can. Merlin realized this and decided he couldn't possibly leave me to fend for myself. He invited me to travel with him with the added promise that he would teach me magic. I accepted. How could I possibly not? I traveled with him until I was 14 which is when we went our separate ways."

"Our history books claim that Merlin went to Hogwarts." Severus mused our loud as he absentmindedly stirred one of the potions. Then he froze, realizing what he had just said. Salazar merely smirked in amusement at the slip up.

"I could see him doing that. He was always very good at disguises. But no, Merlin was born around 600 AD."

In truth, Salazar remembered Merlin masquerading as one of their students. Salazar had been 26 at the time. Merlin had practically attached himself to Salazar from day one, ensuring that he would be placed in Slytherin house. It took a few weeks before Salazar finally realized the mischief that was about. Salazar almost wished he hadn't unmasked the famous warlock. Merlin had actually come to the school looking for his former apprentice's aid. After thinking it over, Salazar had accepted the request for help for two reasons— both to help, but also as a way to distract himself from the recent death of his son.

The immortal warlock had become tired of living— of watching the world age and die all around him. It had been nearly 300 years since Arthur's passing and the Old Religion has given no indication of him rising any time soon. Merlin was working on creating a ritual that would allow him to sleep until the old religion woke him once more for the rise of Arthur. The ritual was mostly finished in theory, but needed detailing and Salazar's aid for the required potions. They spent the next two years working nearly nonstop on the ritual. Salazar himself was almost never seen outside of classes and meals during those last few years. Outside of the other founders, nobody else knew what the elusive fourth founder was working on. The ritual was finally completed and Merlin laid down for his long rest about a week before Salazar's untimely death.

Salazar figured Merlin was still sleeping.

"I see." Severus said, startling Salazar from his thoughts, "What exactly is so special about your magic?"

Salazar didn't respond for a long minute. "In my time, amongst the magical communities, magic was divided into two categories: Olde and New. After the fall of Albion, the Old Religion also fell into decline and as such, magic users capable of it also became very rare. New Magic— or magic requiring foci— had been around for a long time, however with the fall of the Old Religion, New Magic became far more commonly practiced. I am— to an extent, at least— capable of Olde Magick."

Just as Salazar finished speaking, his magical timer went off, alerting him to his Dreamless Draught needing his attention. Salazar set the ladle down, and waved his wand casually to stop the timer's noice before making his way back over to his own potion. The Dreamless Draught was very near completion too. He only needed to add the last few ingredients and it would be pretty much done.

Within five minutes, the potion had turned to the correct dark purple color, and Salazar transfigured a large phial to hold it. While he poured a large portion of the potion into the container, Severus wandered over.

"You brewed Dreamless Draught?" He asked, surprised, "You didn't need to brew that. I could have given you a phial. I keep that potion stocked in my personal stores."

Salazar shrugged. "I should have asked. As it is, brewing always relaxes me, and honestly, I needed this. Besides, I wouldn't want to keep asking for it. It is easier for me to simply make myself enough to last for a while."

Severus nodded in understanding. "Well, if you ever need such a common potion again, and are not in the mood to brew, feel free to ask."

Salazar dipped his head in thanks, as he finished phialing the potion. He was inwardly thankful that the professor did not enquire as to why he was brewing said potion. Salazar might have been willing to talk about his past, but he certainly didn't want to discuss the events of earlier that afternoon. It was far too personal. Harry supposed that that was the good thing about Slytherins. Gryffindors could be so _nosy_ at times.

"I should probably start heading back to the suite. I'm sure my friends are expecting me to return shortly."

Severus nodded. "Very well. Let me place a stasis on this last potion and I will walk you there."

Salazar blinked in confusion for a moment before he suddenly remembered that he was not allowed to walk the school alone. "Very well." Salazar repeated, as he worked to keep his face blank.

After a minute, the two stepped out of the potions lab and began to make their way back to the East Wing. With an exchange of courtesy 'Good Evenings' Severus left Salazar at the entrance to the suite.

With an odd sense of foreboding, Salazar gave the password and stepped into the suite.

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 **AN:** I used Google Translate for the latin spell. The potions' details I found using HP Wiki and images.

 _Exoculo_ : blind, deprive of eyes

No Merlin characters will come into this story any more than what was seen in this chapter, however the magic used in Merlin will play a huge part in this story! Salazar can use Olde Magick after all!

That being said, if I do a sequel to this story, there is a very good chance it would be a full blown crossover. Merlin has to wake up eventually... right..?

Till next time!

~Dawn


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor anything else recognizable. No profit is coming from this. I am merely playing in the sandbox of someone far more famous than myself.**

Unbetaed.

Enjoy! ~ I do believe that this is the longest chapter that I have ever written too! I just couldn't seem to cut it!

 **EDIT: A section, which was not there with the original release was added to the center of this chapter. It deals with Harry's thoughts regarding everything that is happening. While not completely necessary for the plot, it does contain some details that may come up later in the story. Sorry for any inconveniences! I don't know how it got cut from the chapter!**

Without further ado, I present to you…

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 **What Went Wrong?**

~x~

 **Ch 5:** _Revelations_

 _~x~_

After dropping off Salazar, Severus Snape slowly made his way down the hall in the direction of the Headmaster's office. Right before dinner, the Headmaster had cornered him, wanting to talk about his opinions regarding the Slytherin lord. Severus had intended to go with Albus to his office directly after dinner, but had put it off when Salazar himself had requested his attention.

And boy was he glad he did.

The wealth of information that Salazar had so casually given him was nothing short of incredible. If Severus was honest with himself, the man was nothing like what he had expected the elusive fourth founder to be like. Oh, he was still incredibly gifted at Mind Magic from what Severus had so far seen— not that Severus dared try and read his mind or anything— especially given his young age. He was also clearly a very proud and capable individual, but the 'evilness' he had expected to eventually become apparent just wasn't there. If anything, the man just seemed subdued. Like, even at his young age, he had seen far too much hardship and was tired.

Tired of what, Severus didn't know.

Upon reaching the entrance to the Headmaster's office, Severus gave the password, and slowly stepped up the circular staircase into the quaint little office room.

"Severus!" The Headmaster called out before the Potions Master had actually stepped into the office. Severus really wanted to know how he did that. "There you are! I was starting to think that you might have forgotten about me!"

The Headmaster's eyes twinkled merrily, and Severus has to fight off the temptation to roll his eyes.

"I apologize. I was held up." He began, his voice a low tenor. Calmly, he took a seat in front of the Headmaster's desk, and folded his hands on his lap, "Salazar needed to brew a potion and asked for my assistance for a place to brew. I took him to my personal lab and brewed some potions Madam Pomfrey requested while he worked."

"Excellent!" The mans eyes were still twinkling. "Did you recognize what potion he brewed?"

"A simple Dreamless Draught. He didn't tell me what he was brewing prior to completion, otherwise I would have simply given him a phial of the stuff I keep in my personal stores."

"I see." The twinkling eyes had dimmed slightly. "Well I suppose I know why Slytherin would want that tonight."

"Sir?"

"I accompanied the four down to the Chamber of Secrets earlier today, as I believe you already know. Down there we came face to face with what I'm sure is the source for the rumors surrounding 'Slytherin's Monster'. It was a basilisk. According to Salazar himself— who was in communication with the creature— it was insane. Probably due to being isolated for so long. He, along with Godric and Helga killed it. Slytherin was careful not to show too much emotion, but it still clearly shook him a bit."

"I see." Severus murmured quietly.

"Anyways. Enough about that," Dumbledore continued more cheerfully, "Slytherin seemed far more talkative with you during meals than he was with me down in the Chambers _—_ although, that might have just been due to the basilisk's death _—_ did he mention anything of worth?"

Severus was silent for a moment beforehand speaking. "During breakfast, he was mostly giving side commentary for what Godric was saying to the hall. He did however seem surprised at the concept of a class for Defense against the Dark Arts. However in his defense, he also didn't seem to be referring to the same Dark Arts that we are accustomed to. He referred to them as Olde Magick. I hadn't had the time to question him further on it. He was mostly silent during dinner as well, and I hadn't wanted to breach the topic again too noticeably, however in my lab, he mentioned a number of interesting things, including this 'Olde Magick' again."

Severus continued his report with a full recount of what had been said in his lab during the last few hours, ending with the silent walk back to the founder's temporary quarters. All the while, Albus sat in quiet contemplation.

"Very well, my boy," Albus said at last, after Severus had finally gone quiet, "You have given me a lot to think on. I have indeed heard of this 'Olde Magick' in passing, but nothing too detailed I'm afraid. I'll have to do some research. As for him being trained by Merlin? Well, I've never read such a thing, but I will certainly be looking into it. Please keep me updated if he says anything else of interest."

"Certainly." Severus responded. "I must say, however, he is not what I expected. Despite how young he is currently, he acts as one who has seen far more hardship than most see their whole lifetimes. On the other hand, he is very down to earth for someone who has such a bad reputation."

"Yes... I'd noticed that too. Nevertheless, like you yourself just stated: he is still very young. He may very well have been older when he started to have more extremist ideas. It is best we air on the side of caution. We certainly don't need to have _two_ Dark Lords on our hands."

~x~

Salazar stepped into the sitting room of the suite and immediately spotted his three friends sitting in front of the fire. The three seemed to be completely focused on a chessboard that lay between Godric and Helga. Salazar could tell just by looking at their expressions that Godric was winning. Big surprise.

"Hey." He offered quietly as he moved further into the room. All three of their heads swiveled to look at him.

"You're back!" Helga announced loudly, "Finally! Now we can get talking about everything. Rowena didn't want to start until you arrived. We've been taking turns entertaining Godric here with chess so he wouldn't annoy us by complaining too much."

"Hey!"

"Did you get your potion finished?" Rowena asked gently, cutting Ron off from starting any sort of argument with his little sister **.**

Salazar nodded and lifted the large phial so that she could see it more clearly. She gave a small understanding smile in return.

Placing the potion on the table, Salazar moved to join his friends around the fire. As soon as he sat down, Godric started speaking.

"So this isn't our world then." Ron stated the obvious as he turned worried eyes onto his colleagues. "I mean, the snake couldn't have possibly been alive otherwise."

Salazar merely hummed in agreement. "It seems that way. During breakfast, Snape let slip that our Chambers were in fact disturbed fifty years ago, however, he did not mention the incident from second year. I though he had just been withholding that information, but now..?"

"Did we even go back in time? Or is this a completely different universe? Hell, can we even assume that all the events that happened during our lives as the _founders_ even happened here?" Ron asked frustrated.

Instead of answering the questions, Hermione turned her attention to Harry. "We need to figure out what went wrong. Salazar, you didn't happen to bring any of your notes for the ritual's equations with you, did you?"

Harry shook his head, "Sorry. I do remember a good number of them though. I'm certain that given enough time, I can recreate everything needed."

Hermione sighed. "I figured as much. It is the same for me, however, it won't be a problem for me to rewrite my notes. It's times like this, I am thankful for my photographic memory. Anyways, as soon as we have got physical copies to work off of, we will need to start troubleshooting."

"Agreed. However, I think it would also be wise for us to find out as much about this world as possible, that way, we will have at least an idea of what sort of mess we have fallen into. Many things seem the same, however as we considered last night there are a few faces sitting in the Great Hall that I have definitely never seen before. Cyrene still being alive was also a huge difference."

With a contemplative look, Ginny spoke up, "Should we tell Dumbledore what is really going on? Perhaps he could help."

"No." Salazar answered decisively, "At least, not until we know more. We cannot assume to know anything about this world and while our doubles have not yet made an appearance, we cannot rule out for sure that they don't exist. Until we at least know _that_ for sure, it would be unwise to clue anyone in— even Dumbledore— to our alter identities. "

Rowena nodded. "I completely agree. Until we have a better idea on what went wrong with our spell, we really should just sit tight and stick with our original plan. Now however, Sal and I will work on troubleshooting down in the Chamber, as soon as that is cleaned. No one can know that we are anyone other than time lost Founders."

Salazar snorted. "It seems like we are going to have to do what the professors here actually _think_ we are doing. How ironic."

Rowena ignored him and turned her attention towards Helga and Godric. "In the mean time, while Salazar and I focus on the spell, you two ought to find out as much as you can about the current events of this world."

"Yes ma'am." Godric answered with a cheeky grin.

Salazar smirked at him. "Some things never change. You are so totally whipped by her."

" _Salazar_!" Rowena cried, scandalized. "Would you _please_ stop joking around?"

Salazar gave her a sheepish grin, but didn't look at all sorry for his comment.

"What about Voldemort?" Helga asked, bringing their attention back to the topic at hand. "Should we still work to bring him down?"

A brief period of silence followed as the four considered this.

"No. At least, not until we know more." Salazar finally spoke up and broke the silence. His tone was far more serious than what it had been before. "We have no way of knowing what is the same and what is different in this world. What if Voldemort has more Horcruxes than we know of or has placed them in different places? What if he didn't even _use_ Horcruxes to prolong his life, but found another path to immortality? Are we even sure that _Voldemort_ is the bad guy in this world or that there _is_ a bad guy? At this point, we really can't make _any_ assumptions. If we really are in a whole new world, anything and everything could potentially be different. Here, our future knowledge is null and void."

There was another pause before Ginny spoke up once more. "I suppose that is true." She sighed, casting her eyes down. "Well I sure hope you guys can fix this soon. It's too weird to think that everyone here could have potentially lived different lives than we think. It's like we know them, but don't know them at the same time."

Salazar nodded. "They may be the same people, but as the saying goes, 'We are the sum total of our experiences.' We can't expect them to be the same people. Look at us! All our personalities were altered slightly due to gaining the memories from our first lives."

"Yeah." Ginny shook her head. "Anyways, I know that you are going to be helping Rona for the most part Harry, but I think you were on to something with sitting next to Snape during meals. You should continue to do so. He was a spy for Voldemort after all. Perhaps he might say something akin to that? If we can figure out if he still has ties to Riddle, we will have a much better idea of what all is going on. I mean, I know it's a long shot— I know how good he is at acting— but he seems to like you. Maybe he will relax enough to slip up?"

Ron looked dubious. "Are you sure that's the _only_ reason he has been sitting next to the Greasy Bastard?"

"Ron! Language! And our Professor Snape was a good man; you know that he had to act that way due to his position as a spy!" It amused Harry to no end how quickly Hermione always was to rebuke Ron. He figured that that was something that would never change, no matter what. Ron looked more annoyed at the interruption than anything.

"That's fine and all, but he didn't have to _sit_ with him! And then spend the entire evening with him? Seriously?!"

"I didn't have much of a choice of where to sit at breakfast, you know." Harry pointed out wryly. "Besides, I was more focused on the fact that _Remus_ sat next to Snape, than whether _I_ sat next to Snape. As for this evening? I needed that potion. Where else was I supposed to brew it?"

"Whatever." Ron said shortly. "Are you going to be all chummy with him at breakfast tomorrow too?"

"Actually," Hermione started, bringing everyone's attention to her, "I was thinking it might be smart for us to sit in pairs — because I am sure that Dumbledore will not allow Salazar to sit with the students by himself— down at the students tables tomorrow morning. I'm sure that they will be far more likely to slip up, and besides, maybe we can figure out where our doubles are from eavesdropping."

Ron nodded. "Yeah. That's a good idea. Harry and I should sit at Gryffindor and then you and Gin could sit at Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw."

"I really don't think that that is a good idea, Ron." Harry said hesitantly.

Ron looked confused. "Why not? Gryffindor is going to be the table where we are most likely to learn something. We will be able to get a better feel for what's different. Besides, all our friends are in Gryffindor. Don't you want to see them all again? I mean, I know that they won't be _our_ friends, but still!"

"Of course I do," Harry sighed. "But Ron, mate, they don't _know_ I'm their friend. They only know me as Salazar Slytherin. Do you really think they want me sitting at their table?"

"Then where are you going to sit? With the _snakes_?" Ron retorted angrily. Harry decided not to point out that technically he too was a 'snake'. "You're my best mate! Besides, as the founders, we can't possibly know of the rivalry between our two houses!"

"Ron's right, you know," Ginny offered quietly. "We aren't supposed to know of any hatred between the two houses."

Harry closed his eyes in frustration. "That may be so, but I still don't want to have to talk to people wearing the faces of my friends while they look at me with thinly veiled contempt!"

The other three didn't seem to know how to respond to _that_. Even Godric looked a little apologetic for pushing the issue. _A little._

Finally Hermione, always the peacekeeper, came up with a solution. "How about for breakfast, Godric and I sit together at Gryffindor? That way we can try and get some new information. Salazar and Helga will sit at Slytherin. _Let me finish!_ " The last part was directed at Ron, who had already opened his mouth to argue. "We will make sure to make an appearance at lunch too, and sit with the other two houses in pairs then as well. That way, it won't seem like we are playing favorites of any of the houses. For dinner, we will return to the High Table. Now, can everyone live with that?"

"I still don't like it." Ron grumbled, "We all know half of the students there are Death Eaters. I just don't want to see you or Harry hurt."

Ginny, who seemed rather onboard with the idea huffed. "Well its a good thing we are all capable of protecting ourselves, isn't it? Besides, if it bothers you that much, you can trade with me and sit with Sal at Slytherin instead."

Ron grumbled to himself, but didn't speak any further on the issue.

Hermione took that to be a 'no'. "Any more objections? No? Alright then, I think that we have a game plan!"

Harry nodded quietly before standing and stepping over to where he had left his potion on the table and picked it back up. "If it's all the same with you three, I'm gonna head off to bed then, I'm beat." With that said, Harry bid the others good night and headed into the room he hadn't even touched yet.

If today had been any indication, tomorrow was going to be a very long day.

~x~

Once Harry was alone in his room he sat heavily on the bed and held his head in his hands for a long moment. He was getting very good at hiding his inner feelings from his friends, in his humble opinion. He was rather certain that they didn't have an inkling of a clue as to how stressful this whole ordeal had been for him. He wanted to keep it that way. Just like in their world, he was certain that they had their own worries and stresses, and he definitely didn't want to add to them. Besides, he had been dealing with his own problems for two lives now, it wasn't anything new for him.

It was something that Harry supposed his two lives actually had in common: he had never had many people he could turn to, and had learned early on how to wear a mask and rely on himself. Although, the mask he wore growing up as Harry Potter was a bit different. It was simply hiding how lonely and depressed he truly had been while living with the Dursleys, and later, hiding both his physical pain and how much the other students' fickleness emotionally hurt him.

As Salazar, he had been forced to grow up and fend for himself in a way that even little Harry hadn't. Then, traveling with Merlin, he had often been forced into situations where it was sink or swim, such as learning how to handle life in the high court. He had quickly learned to blend in, and was willing to do practically anything to impress his peers as an adolescent. It was for this reason that he adopted the last name 'Slytherin'. Not having a last name— even a _fabricated_ last name— simply made him stand out too much as a commoner who clearly didn't belong. He had also learned very early on that even in the Magical communities that Merlin took him to, his abilities to use Olde Magick was frowned upon; something to keep hidden.

But here, Salazar couldn't hide. Even while wearing a mask, he felt horribly exposed. He hadn't necessarily done anything _wrong_ and yet, he was being judged and watched and _hated_. All the while, his friends were held up on pedestals. It was incredibly isolating. Of course, he had known this would happen. When they had decided to go to the past using their past identities as covers, he had expected it and mentally prepared himself for it. And before he had seen Cyrene, alive and crazy he had refused to believe that anything was truly wrong, because if he did, that would mean that they had failed to send themselves back to the correct past...

...and then it was all for _nothing!_

He had been able to put up with everything thus far thrown at him under the impression that he was saving the people he loved. That it would do some _good._ That he would have a purpose, and when it was all said and done, perhaps he could earn the trust of those he cared about with even the name, 'Salazar Slytherin' — redeem his old identity and reform the fourth of Hogwarts that carried his name; a name that he was no longer proud of.

But now?

Salazar didn't know what to do. So he joked and laughed with his friends and stayed stoic and proud in public. Both were masks, and neither a better representation of how he was actually faring.

He wanted to say that he just wanted to go home, but that wasn't quite right, because nobody he loved was back there and still alive. The only three who still truly cared for him, and not his image as a 'savior', were here in this new world with him. Harry only hoped that he and Hermione could fix the spell soon, and send them to the past where they were supposed to be. At least then he could have a purpose to fixate on, even if it was defeating Voldemort again. That would make it so much easier to ignore everything else.

With a deep breath, Harry let his hands fall to his lap before slowly getting up and changing into clothes better fit for sleeping. After taking a rather large swig of the potion he had prepared, Harry then curled up into a ball under the covers and willed himself to sleep.

 _'At least here I don't have to worry about nightmares from Voldemort.'_ Was his last humorless thought as he drifted off.

He was unaware of the concerned strawberry blonde head ducking into his room to check on him later that night.

~x~

The next morning, the founders all made their way to the previously decided upon tables, much to the surprise and excitement of the students. Rowena had briefly made her way up to the High Table to inform the Headmaster of what they were doing before joining the others.. Dumbledore had accepted their idea happily.

Helga and Salazar had mutually decided to sit in the middle of the Slytherin table, one on either side of the bench. That way, the students could crowd around them, and they wouldn't be sitting in a place reserved for only one age group. They both dished up a small helping of food, although Salazar wasn't that hungry if he was honest with himself. He didn't think Helga was either.

Upon taking his seat, Pansy Parkinson sat down on his right. Salazar had to fight the urge to roll his eyes. He couldn't help remembering how the girl had practically hung off of Malfoy's arm most of his time at Hogwarts. He certainly hoped she didn't try and do the same with him.

Some younger looking students that Salazar didn't recognize quickly sat down on his other side, sandwiching him in the middle. Across from him, Helga too was immediately surrounded by a mix of Slytherins of all different ages, however they seemed a bit more hesitant as they sat down, throwing annoyed glances at Helga. Salazar was pretty sure they were only tolerating her at their table for his sake. Glancing past Pansy, Salazar recognized a few other of the Slytherins from his year. Surprisingly, unlike the others, Malfoy did not join his year mates; instead, remaining on the far side of the table slowing eating his breakfast. Before he had a chance to ponder this oddity further, Pansy opened her mouth.

"Its such an honor to meet you, my lord!" she gushed, blinking her eyes in a way that Sal was sure was supposed to be flirtatious.

 _'Oh dear Merlin, no.'_ Harry thought with a grimace he was careful not to show. Glancing over at Helga, he could see she was biting her lower lip in an effort to not to laugh. _Of course_ she was finding this funny. Traitor. He was tempted to correct Pansy's assumption, after all, he wasn't _technically_ a lord but thought better of it. That wasn't exactly something Salazar would do, even if he was extremely curious about how she would react. ' _Maybe she would even leave me alone!_ '

Luckily, Salazar had had a great deal of experience with keeping a straight face, so nothing of his inward debate showed outwardly on his face. Instead, he replied calmly, "It is an honor to meet all of you. Helga and I are both pleasantly surprised to see how well our little venture has faired this far in the future."

Pansy wrinkled her nose slightly. "Why is Miss Hufflepuff sitting here, rather than at the Hufflepuff table?"

It seemed Pansy was the spokesperson for Slytherin. _Great_. Once again, Salazar cast his eyes down towards where Draco was still seated all alone before speaking. "The four of us thought it best to sit in pairs. For lunch, I will either join Rowena or Helga at their tables, depending on who Godric wants to seat with."

"Who put Gryffindor in charge?" An upperclass Slytherin— whom Harry recognized, but couldn't recall his name— asked with a slight sneer.

Salazar raised an eyebrow. "Between the four of us, there is no leader. We are simply a group of friends. I let Godric choose because Rowena is his wife, and Helga, his sister. I am simply a good friend of all three and therefore, it matters less to me whom I sit with."

"Would you lot care to introduce yourselves?" Helga asked with a small smile, effectively dissipating any remaining tension.

"I'm Pansy Parkinson, and I'm a 5th year Pureblood." Pansy stated proudly as she once again took the lead, much to Salazar's chagrin. "Next to me are Gregory Goyle, Vincent Crabbe, Theodore Nott…"

Salazar started to tune her out as she continued with the introductions, instead casting his eyes around the table. He recognized most of the Slytherins but there were a few that he was sure he hadn't seen before, especially amongst the younger students. However, seeing as he hadn't really paid too much attention to the Slytherin students younger than himself during his time in school, this didn't mean that they were necessarily unique to this world.

Salazar finally tuned back in to what Pansy was saying as she began to gesture over towards the younger students gathered on his left. "…and directly on your left is a group of second years. Astoria Greengrass is right next to you. She is Daphne's little sister. Next to her is Tauri Black…"

Harry's mind froze when she uttered the word Black, as his eyes swiveling to locate the second year she had listed. Sure enough, next to Astoria was a young girl with long wavy dark hair and the tell-tale grey eyes prominent in the Black family. More than anything, Salazar wanted to ask more about her. Was she closely related to Sirius? Regulus' daughter, perhaps? But he knew asking would be sure to draw some red flags. Reluctantly drawing his eyes away from her, Salazar directed his attention back to Pansy, just as she finished with her introductions. That was when Salazar noticed a key detail. She had completely omitted Malfoy, who still seemed to be ignoring the rest of the house, sitting on the far end of the table all alone.

He decided to call her out on it.

"It is a pleasure to make all of your acquaintances." He started smoothly, "It is wonderful to see Slytherin house faring so well. However, I couldn't help but notice that you never introduced the white haired boy sitting on the end of the bench. He is a Slytherin as well, yes?"

To Salazar's slight surprise, Pansy wrinkled her nose in distaste. "He might _technically_ still be a Slytherin, but he hasn't been one of us for two years now. I honestly don't know why he keeps coming back every year, his parents already left the country. The cowards."

Salazar felt his eyebrows raise slightly in surprise.

Well.

 _That_ was different.

"I see." He simply said out loud. Looking over at Helga, Salazar could see that she too was surprised by that declaration. It seemed Slytherin's Prince had been disgraced in this world. Harry could only wonder why. Lucius had been one of Voldemort's chief followers in his world. What could have happened to cause them to leave the country? He quickly reminded himself that Voldemort might not even be a bad guy here.

"Are you going to join the Dark Lord?" Pansy asked bluntly. Sitting next to Helga, Salazar could see a few older students pale.

' _Well that answers_ that _question_ ', Salazar noted with amusement. At least now he didn't have to spend time wondering if this world was even at war.

Quirking an eyebrow, Salazar responded with an amused tone before anyone else could speak up, "A _Dark Lord_? Why on Earth would I be planning on joining him? I assure you nobody from this era has contacted me as of yet. Does he want to have tea with me or something?"

Across from him, Helga let out a cough that sounded dangerously like a laugh.

"N-no!" Pansy looked a bit flustered, before she could continue, one of the 7th years she had introduced— Cassius Warrington, and if Harry was not mistaken, a fellow Quidditch player— spoke up.

"My apologies, my lord. Miss Parkinson here seems to have forgotten that you were not to be given any information regarding current events. Personally, I think it is nigh deceptive that the Headmaster would refuse you information when it involves you so personally, however, I do understand how it might be dangerous to accidentally change the past. Our _esteemed_ Headmaster, seems to have forgotten a very simple way around this however: Memory charms. Anything you four learn, could simply be removed before you return home."

Looking over at Helga, Salazar came to a snap decision. "Agreed." he said lowly, much to the elation of the 7th year, "So what information do you seem to think that I need to know?"

Instead of answering, the Slytherin glanced subtlety over at Helga, "I think it would perhaps be best if we discussed this in private." He responded after a minute. "That way, no unwanted ears will overhear us."

Salazar nodded slowly, shooting a look at Helga to keep her from retorting. He could tell that she had about had it with the Slytherins. They had mostly been ignoring her presence, however it was clear how lowly they perceived her. Had Salazar himself not had a role to play, and needed the information that the Slytherins were unknowingly dangling over his head, he would not be playing so nice right now.

Mentally preparing himself for what was to come. Salazar opened his mouth, "Very well. Do you have class after breakfast?"

Warrington shook his head in the negative.

"Then Helga and myself will accompany you somewhere where we can speak privately. Helga, will of course, remain outside our room and keep guard." He flicked his eyes over to Helga again, silently imploring her to go along with his scheme. After all, this was their best chance at gaining some information but he still wasn't allowed to roam the halls of Hogwarts alone. Reluctantly, she gave a slight nod.

"Excellent!" The Slytherin grinned wickedly. "However it is probably wise for us to not be seen leaving together. After all, I am certain that the Headmaster and his staff are watching you closely. We can meet up in an unused classroom. Just exit the Great Hall and turn left. I will meet you there in around five minutes."

Salazar dipped his head in agreement, and the Slytherin offered him one last grin before he stood up and left the Great Hall. Most of the other older Slytherins followed suit, leaving only some of the younger students to continue with their breakfast. Salazar even noticed Malfoy get up and follow the others out— albeit, at a distance.

Looking down at his toast, Salazar took a deep breath. Oh, what had he gotten himself into this time? He knew that they would be expecting him to side with Voldemort as soon as they told him what was happening. Except, there was no way he was going to do _that._ He would have to play this extremely carefully if he didn't want to completely disassociate himself from Slytherin House.

"Please don't take everything that he says to heart." A little voice said softly from his left, "Cassius is a follower of the Dark Lord, and would like nothing more than to get you to join them. Just keep in mind that even if we keep quiet and often follow their lead, not every Slytherin follows him."

Salazar was only mildly surprised to see that it was Tauri Black who had spoken. Beside her, Astoria Greengrass had kept her attention focused on her eggs, but hadn't attempted to disagree with anything said. In fact, Salazar noticed that none of the Slytherins left at the table seemed to disagree with the sentiment. He smiled slightly to himself.

"I will most certainly be keeping that in mind, Miss Black." He replied honestly, allowing a touch of warmth to enter his tone, "Regardless of my views, I also have no intention of getting involved in the politics of this age. It is not my place."

Tauri nodded thoughtfully, but did not speak further on the topic. "It's an honor to meet you too, Lady Hufflepuff. I know the other Slytherins don't care for you, but both my mother and sister were sorted into Hufflepuff House."

Helga nodded, "I appreciate your sentiment. It is an honor to meet such an intelligent Slytherin. If you had been a student back in our time, I am certain that Salazar would have chosen you as one of his students. You seem to have just the sort of qualities he looks for in his pupils."

Tauri blushed.

"Well," Salazar said at last, as he finished his last bite of toast, "Are you ready to get going Helga? I think it has been about five minutes."

Helga nodded and together they stood and started heading towards the doors.

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 **AN:** Not much to say this time. Please don't forget to review! I truly appreciate any feedback!

Salazar's quote is from B. J. Neblett

This chapter actually contained one of the first scenes that I wrote for this story. I had to edit it quite a bit to make it fit better, but yeah! Its kinda exciting for me to actually be able to post one of those first scenes that really created the ideas behind this story.

Also, what do you guys think of Tauri Black? She won't be a main character or anything, she is simply necessary to drive the plot a bit, but I spent a lot of work hashing out the details regarding her character and house. I was really hesitant to place her in Slytherin, but in the end, felt it necessary. After all, only one individual with the surname Black has ever not been in Slytherin, and we all know who that was.

Till next time!

~Dawn


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor anything else recognizable. No profit is coming from this. I am merely playing in the sandbox of someone far more famous than myself.**

Unbetaed.

Sorry this chapter got a bit delayed. I was busy studying for some tests I had to take this week.

Without further ado, I present to you…

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* * *

 **What Went Wrong?**

~x~

 **Ch 6:** _Answers and Restoration_

 _~x~_

Side by side, Salazar and Helga carefully made their way out of the Great Hall and in the direction that Warrington had indicated.

"What have I gotten myself into?" he muttered under his breath, just loudly enough for her to hear.

Helga snorted. "Better you than me." She paused for a moment as she turned her head to look at him. "Although I suppose it could be beneficial. These Slytherins might just hand you a ton of information regarding current events. It would be a wasted opportunity to not take it."

"There were a few times I almost broke character," Salazar mused aloud. "We also should have expected that they would not be very receptive of you. It would have probably been better if Rona had sat with me and you with Godric. Thanks again for going along with all of this. I know the Slytherins were pissing you off… They were pissing _me_ off!"

Helga shrugged. "Its nothing I can't handle. You're not the only one who can keep their tempers in check when necessary. Besides, Godric and Rowena needed the time to get to know each other again. I mean, I know they _know_ each other. They've known each other in two lifetimes now, but, well, you know what I mean!"

Salazar gave her a small smile. "I do," he said simply. They fell silent after that as they looked for Warrington.

It wasn't long before they spotted him.

Standing right outside of an empty classroom was the Slytherin. Surprisingly, the 7th year now stood alone. Salazar had assumed that he would be accompanied by at least a few of his fellow 7th years. Salazar supposed it didn't matter. It was probably easier to have one individual explain everything rather than a bunch of them cutting in and talking over one another. Besides, if things went south, one seventeen year old was far easier to deal with than a bunch.

Salazar turned to speak to Helga, however, before he could open his mouth, she took his hand and gave it a slight squeeze. "I'll just stay right here, alright?" Helga said, "Just don't take too long. I'd rather not have to explain what is going on were someone to walk by."

Salazar nodded wordlessly and Helga released his hand. Slowly, he turned and followed the 7th year into the classroom.

Warrington shut the door behind them, giving Salazar a moment to look around the room. It really wasn't much. In fact, it was incredibly similar in looks to many of the other classrooms that Harry had studied in during his time as a student. Like the floors, the walls were made of beautiful wood that stretched to the ceiling. There were two windows, however Salazar assumed that these were simply allusions, seeing that they were on the inner part of the castle. Across the floor, a few desks and chairs were placed haphazardly. Despite looking like it had been out of official use for a while, Salazar was surprised to note that not a speck of dust was on any of the furniture. It took him a moment to remember the House Elves— helpers who hadn't existed at Hogwarts at the time of its creation— whom Harry was certain were to blame for the level of cleanliness in the otherwise abandoned classroom.

"We use this room sometimes to study." Warrington commented absentmindedly. "Nobody has used it for actual classes for at least twenty years, or at least, that's what I'm told."

Salazar nodded, before pulling his wand out. "You said that this conversation was to be private, yes? Perhaps it would be prudent for me to cast some privacy charms then?"

Without waiting for an answer, Salazar lazily flicked his wand, casting a few various charms silently. When he was done, he glanced over to where the seventh year was watching him with awe. Salazar inwardly rolled his eyes. _'Really? That wasn't even all that impressive.'_

Out loud, Salazar spoke, his voice tinted with just a touch of impatience. "So what was so important that you had to tell me that you couldn't say in front of Helga?"

It seemed that his speaking broke Warrington out of his trance. "Oh! Right, sorry about that. It is incredible to see you do magic though, no matter how little. You've been my idol along with countless other Slytherins I'm sure."

Salazar dipped his head slightly in acknowledgement but refused to comment. If he was honest, he really didn't know _how_ to respond. After all, he was not proud that all of these radical purebloods saw him as their role model. He still wasn't quite sure how _that_ had happened. He didn't recall doing anything in his life that would have led to being perceived as some sort of extremist in the future. He'd have to ask Helga if she had any ideas.

"Anyways," Warrington continued. "The thing that Dumbledore is so determined to keep you from knowing is that you have an Heir. He is often referred to as the Dark Lord, and is the most powerful wizard currently alive. Well, Dumbledore's followers would have you believe that it is _Dumbledore_ , but everyone else knows the truth. Maybe in his prime the two might have been equals, but Dumbledore is now an old man. It won't be long before he just keels over— there is no way that he still has the stamina to go head to head with your Heir!

"As for the Dark Lord, well, he is trying to finish what you have started. I know that Hogwarts might seem like it is prospering, but in reality, it could be far better. The whole wizarding would could be better actually, and the Dark Lord is working with that ideal in mind. It is only those still too small minded who fail to see it. They are traitors to Wizarding kind. Blood traitors, we call them."

"I see." Salazar said uncommitedly. So far, everything seemed to be the same from his world. Of course, he was having to jump to a lot of conclusions, given the rather vague description that the Slytherin was giving him, but it was all correct so far. After a moment, Salazar decided to ask a question, if only to mess with the boy. He truly couldn't help himself. "You have called him a Dark Lord and my Heir. However you have somehow forgotten to give me his name?"

He finished his question with a slight raise of his left eyebrow, and then watched with a touch of glee as Warrington seemed to get flustered. "W-well, we don't actually say his name. He is a titled Lord, of course, but he prefers us to simply call him the Dark Lord. Those who are too scared to call him even that call him You-Know-Who, or something silly along those lines."

"But certainly he has a name you can tell me." Salazar pushed. He was getting far too much enjoyment out of this. "After all, how else am I supposed to know that he is _actually_ my alleged Heir. As it stands now, I currently have no children, and this far in the future, I don't see how he can claim such a thing without legit proof."

"I've never seen the proof myself, my lord— I am not important enough to be privileged with such honor— but I'm certain he has it. Plus, he is a Parselmouth. That's a gift he gained from you!"

Salazar hummed apathetically. "Well, I suppose that that is _something_. However, there are other Parselmouths beside me. Its not that uncommon of a gift. At least, it isn't uncommon in my time… but enough about that. You told me what my alleged heir wants, but what exactly does he do in order to achieve said goals?"

Warrington was silent for a moment, as he thought about how to explain. "Well, he does a lot of speeches and public demonstrations. He also has a lot of control in the ministry. Sometimes things get violent, of course, but the British Wizarding World is basically fighting a civil war right now between the two sides— that is, the Dark Lord's and Dumbledore's. We are winning though, Hogwarts— since Dumbledore is it's current headmaster— is the last stronghold for the light side. Only places, such as hospitals have been allowed to stay neutral."

"How long has all this been going on?" Salazar asked curiously.

"Since the 60s. Er, that is _19_ 60s. It is 1995 right now, so that would be just over three decades? Both our parents' generation and ours have now had to grow up during the war."

"I see." Salazar murmured.

 _Bingo_.

If Salazar had just interpreted that correctly, it sounded like there was no break in the war. Voldemort had never _died_ here! Did that mean that there was no prophecy? Or did it mean that _he_ didn't exist in this world? Come to think of it, Salazar hadn't seen Neville sitting in the Great Hall at all either.

At last, Salazar spoke again. "Well. I thank you for taking the time to inform me of what is going on. It was most enlightening. However, I fail to see why you seemed to think it so prudent for me to know. I will be frank, I have no intentions of joining my alleged Heir, regardless to whether or not his plans are worthy of my aid. I want to go home, and thus, I will spend my time working on the Ritual with Lady Ravenclaw. I see no reason to get involved in the politics of a future that I shan't ever live in. Besides, if something were to happen to me here and I didn't return, wouldn't that mean that my alleged heir would cease to exist?"

"Very well." Warrington looked more than a little disappointed, but, Salazar noted with some relief, he didn't seem to disagree with what Salazar had said. "I shall tell the Dark Lord of your stance."

Salazar nodded before turning on his heels and making his way towards the door. Before he opened the door, he gave his wand a quick flick to dispel the privacy wards he had previously put up.

Upon exiting, it took him a minute before he located Helga. The strawberry blonde witch was partly hidden behind a suit of armor in an alcove across the hallway. As soon as she spotted him, she carefully stepped back into the hallway and then strode towards him. As she got closer, he raised an eyebrow in question.

"Long story." she muttered under her breath. Instead of stopping next to him, Helga walked past, continuing in the direction of the 2nd floor Lavatory. Salazar quickly stepped forward to keep pace with her. "A couple professors came through here not too long ago. Probably looking for us, actually. I figured it best if they _not_ see me."

"Yes… That _would_ have been bad."

"Says the person who _didn't_ have to spend the last ten minutes stuffed in a tiny alcove."

"And you conveniently forgot you could use _magic_ to hide yourself?"

"…shut up."

Salazar ducked his head as a wide grin appeared on his face.

"So," Helga started after they had walked for a few minutes in silence. They had just stepped into the privacy of the Chamber's entrance tunnel. "Did you learn anything?"

"I did." Salazar said allusively. "And I think I figured out what makes this world different from our own. I won't say more until the others are here though."

Helga nodded in acceptance.

It was a few minutes more before the pair stepped into the main portion of their Chambers. It was nothing short of incredible how vastly they had improved since they had first ventured down into them only 24 hours ago. Already, all the vermin, ruined furniture, and mold had been cleared away— along with the obscenely large amount of snake statues. I mean, Salazar liked snakes, but he didn't like them _that_ much. The quartet could only assume that a descendent of his and Helga's had stumbled upon their Chambers at one point or another and had them built, along with the creepy statue of Slytherin. Except, it _really_ didn't look like Salazar. At least the other three got amusement out of teasing him for it, Salazar noted.

New wards had also been placed, keeping the water from doing any more damage. It looked like Rowena had already reshaped and recharmed the walls with paint since arriving this morning, because instead of being the awful moldy grey-green color that Salazar had been expecting, they were now a nice soft cream and stood perfectly straight.

It still smelled a bit though.

Salazar had to wonder if that would ever change. After all, they'd already cast how many fresh air charms? Salazar had honestly lost count. Granted, it was most definitely better than it was before, but the smell was still there. It seemed that the abysmal conditions that the Chamber had been left in for so long were simply working against them in this situation.

Godric spotted them first. Nudging Rowena, he made his way over towards where Helga and Salazar were now standing.

"What took you guys?" He asked as he got closer. "You two left before us, so we had expected you to be here when we finally arrived."

"Sorry," Salazar began, "We were temporarily delayed. However, I did gain some valuable information because of it. We learned a lot at breakfast too."

"So did we." Rowena stated as she approached from behind Godric. "But you guys go first."

"Well, I was asked—in a somewhat roundabout way— if I would be willing to join the 'Dark Lord'— whom they naturally refused to name… I think it is safe to say that Voldemort is in power here too."

" _Of course_ they wanted you to join him."

"Not _all_ Slytherins are evil, you know."

"Anyways," Rowena broke in, before anything could escalate between the two males, "We came to the same conclusion at Gryffindor. Of course, no one told us point blankly that a war was going on… But you could tell, you know?"

"Yeah. I got that feeling too, even if Pansy hadn't started spouting off about Dark Lords." Helga chuckled. "That wasn't the only think she was doing either. It was quite entertaining. Her loose tongue proved to be quite informative though."

"Yeah. You certainly seemed entertained." Salazar muttered.

Helga grinned. "I am forever impressed that you kept in character through everything, Sal. But enough about that. _Malfoy_ was a big difference. He is practically an outcast in Slytherin here. He didn't even come join the rest of the House with us— he instead remained all alone on the far end of the table. According to Pansy, his parents have fled the country!"

"Serves the ferret right." Ron grumbled.

" _Ron!_ " Hermione snapped, "That's not fair and you know it! He is not the same person that we knew!"

Salazar nodded contemplatively. "He certainly wasn't the same Malfoy we all know and love… I didn't think it was possible for a Malfoy to act so subdued. It might be smart to approach him at some point—see if we can learn more from his perspective. That wasn't the only big difference at breakfast though… There is a Slytherin at Hogwarts that I am one hundred percent certain was not there in our world: Tauri _Black_."

"A Black?" Hermione asked. "How is that even possible? Whose daughter do you think she is?"

Salazar sighed. "Wish I knew. I couldn't exactly ask without raising suspicion."

"She didn't support Voldemort though." Helga added, "Right before we left the table, she said rather plainly that, 'not all Slytherins support him.'"

"You think she is related to Sirius then?" Ron asked.

Harry nodded slowly. "I think she'd have to be. Otherwise, she couldn't be a Black right? Earlier, I was thinking that it was highly likely that she is Regulus' daughter. I mean, she is in Slytherin, but secretly against Voldemort? We know that Regulus was also secretly against him."

"Thats true…" Rowena started contemplatively, "But that is jumping to an awful lot of conclusions. I mean, how do we know Regulus is the same in this world? He might have never defected."

"Well, that's the thing," Salazar began, "At the end of breakfast, one of the older Slytherins— the one that tried to recruit me actually— had me meet him so he could tell me what was happening… And, if my assumptions regarding everything he told me are correct, Regulus was probably already dead here too… Meaning Tauri can't be his daughter."

Rowena gasped and Godric's eyes widened at his first statement. Rowena quickly cut in to clarify, "What about fear of disrupting the time line? Weren't the Slytherins worried about that too?"

"They are, but see no reason why we couldn't simply have memory charms placed on us before we left. I just went with it. He said 'the Dark Lord'— whom I think is safe to assume is Voldemort— and Dumbledore are the two opposing factions. He also said that Hogwarts is the last remaining place where Voldemort has no foothold of power; only places such as Hospitals have been allowed to remain neutral. This of course is all extremely similar to how it was in our world. The big difference, however— and what I think might be one of the key differences that has changed this world from ours— is that _Voldemort never died._ He has been constantly active since the 60s."

"What?" Helga breathed. "How is the wizarding world even still functioning if they have been fighting for that long?"

Salazar shrugged. "Not a clue. That is just what Warrington—I think that was his name— told me. But if that really is one of— if not _the_ — key differences, then I think that it is safe to say that everything that happened _before_ his first defeat in 1981 in our world, should be the same here. That means Regulus' actions shouldn't have changed… but that also means that he should be dead…"

"You may very well be on to something, Sal." Rowena mused out loud, "I think we have already all established that we are in some sort of alternate reality, but what makes the most sense at this point is that we somehow _slipped_ when we went back in time. I mean, everything is just so _similar_ to our world for us to have just ended up in some random universe… Dumbledore is still the headmaster, a Dark Lord— who I agree, is safe to assume is Voldemort— is still in power… Most of the professors are even the same. And time— the way it works, according to most sources, that is, is that— it follows the butterfly effect. Like, a seemingly small detail can create vast changes down the road. Voldemort never dying is certainly a huge difference, but it was more than likely brought on by a smaller change that we are not yet seeing."

"Like me not existing? Or the lack of a prophecy?" Harry asked humorlessly.

"That would work." Rowena agreed, looking at her friend with an inscrutable expression.

"Well I think that sums up what we learned from the Slytherins, what was new at Gryffindor?" Ginny asked after a short stretch of silence.

"None of us were even mentioned at the table during introductions." Ron started with a shrug. "Neville wasn't either, actually, and at least three fourths of the muggleborn students in our house were also missing. I suppose the muggleborns being gone makes sense though, if your counterpart never temporarily defeated him here, Harry."

Harry nodded quietly.

"Nobody really told us anything that noteworthy, but we could tell just from the lack of hope and liveliness of the house as a whole that something was amiss. Even the twins— _especially_ the twins— were really strange acting. They were so _serious!_ No jokes whatsoever! They weren't even like that in our world at the end! I just don't get what could have happened to them. I mean, even if Voldemort never died here, surely they shouldn't have been effected so greatly as to have lose their love of jokes…"

Ron trailed off after a moment his brows furrowed as he worried about the brothers that weren't even technically _his._ Granted, neither the Fred nor George of his world— or any of Ron's family apart from Ginny and Charlie, who had been one of the lucky survivors— had survived the war back in their future.

"It really was surreal," Hermione added after a moment, "We knew what we were walking into before we sat down, but… To actually see complete strangers wearing our friends faces and speaking with their voices was just bizarre."

"And the Gryffindors really didn't say anything of note?" Salazar pressed.

Ron shook his head. "Nah. They were more interested in telling us that Gryffindor was close to winning the house cup this year and that they were good in this subject or that… Those sort of things."

~x~

The quartet had just managed to finish cleaning up the rooms they had deemed to be most relevant for their stay in the new world before lunch was set to begin.

All four were rather relieved at this realization as that meant that they would not only be able to move back into the Chambers that coming night, but that Rowena and Salazar would be able to start looking into what went wrong with their ritual as soon as lunch ended. It also meant that they wouldn't have to do any more hard labor— that was definitely a plus, Salazar mused as he sat down across from Helga at the Hufflepuff table.

They were quite early to lunch; none of the Students had arrived, and the food had not even appeared on the tables yet. Salazar allowed himself to slip into his thoughts as he waited...

In all, they had restored a grand total of seven rooms:

The main hall was of course a necessity— none of them wanted to have to walk through it everyday in it's degraded state to get to the other rooms. Now, beyond the cream colored walls, and restored white marble floors and fixtures, the ceiling had been recharmed by Helga and Rowena in the same way the Great Hall's ceiling had been charmed. It made their underground sanctuary feel far more open and homely for the quartet. Along with this, the four also conjured some basic furniture to the room, all mahogany wood in color.

Beyond the hallway, perhaps the most important rooms that needed restoring was their own suites. When they had first built the Chambers, they had created and furnished only three suites, along with guest rooms for family and friends to stay in. After all, seeing as Godric and Rowena had already been married by the time that the four of them started Hogwarts, they had always shared a suite. Due to this, Salazar was sure that there was going to be an argument as to which of the two slept where— he fully expected both to insist that the other should keep their original rooms, that is— but Rowena made it easy, by choosing the suite that their daughter, Helena, had occupied to be hers, at least temporarily, before any questions about sleeping arrangements could even be asked.

The four refurnished suites were all very different in colors and styles, but the detailing of each was not quite complete. Nonetheless each had been deemed livable, and had all new furniture. Salazar wasn't honestly sure if he had any intentions on completely restoring his own suites. After all, they didn't plan on staying in this reality any longer than then were required to.

Their primary study room, equipped with an adjoining potions lab was the next room they tackled. This was where Salazar and Rowena intended to set up shop for their studying. The study room was actually rather small, and had, as of right now, mostly empty book shelves lining three of the four walls of the room. In the center of the room was a large rectangular table made of the same dark wood as the book shelves. The potions lab was small, but cosy. Perfect for one or two people to use, but a little too small for any more to occupy it at a single moment.

Finally, the last room they had restored was their old physical training room— Godric just wouldn't let it go. Of course, Helga wasn't much better. Dragging their feet, Salazar and Rowena finally caved and helped their two friends restore this room as well, if only because they knew it would keep the two from bothering them while they were working in the study.

While there wasn't much to it, the physical training room was by far the most magically impressive room in their little underground sanctuary, if only due to its size and charms. The physical training room was around the size of a small gymnasium, and was charmed to be as similar to being outside as magically possible. It had been developed due to the frequently bad weather that occurred where Hogwarts was situated. Eventually, both Godric and Helga had grown tired of training in the rain, and decided to build this with Salazar and Rowena's help.

Like the Great Hall, and their own Main Hall, the physical training room had the ceiling that reflected the outside sky. More impressive, perhaps, was the flooring, as it looked and felt like grass, even if it was completely artificial. It had been something that Helga had developed after she tired of her legs hurting from training on hard floors. In the room, the only give away that you were not actually outside was the white walls that surrounded the room.

Salazar was knocked out of his thoughts by a sudden kick under the table.

Looking up in slight surprise, his eyes met Helga's amused ones. He was also surprised to note that they were now surrounded by students. He hadn't even heard them walk in! So much for his keen sense of situational awareness.

"You back with us then, Sal?"

Salazar blinked. "Yes. Sorry, did you say something?"

Helga shook her head with an amused grin and gestured to a young girl seated beside her, "No, but Miss Rose Zeller did. She's a first year."

Salazar looked over to Helga's left where said first year Hufflepuff was young girl looked positively embarrassed at the amount of attention her simple greeting had received.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Zeller," Salazar started, keeping his voice low and gentle, "I apologize if you though I was ignoring you, I was simply lost in my own thoughts."

After that, Salazar hardly spoke during lunch, nor did he pay much attention to what was actually being said. He genuinely doubted that the Hufflepuffs would say anything that noteworthy if he were being honest. Just like when they were seated at Slytherin, the Hufflepuffs seemed perfectly content to direct all their questions towards Helga and ignore Salazar to the best of their ability. The only huge difference between the two houses was that the Hufflepuffs were a bit more careful to hide any obvious distain they felt towards Salazar, much to the raven haired teen's relief.

All in all, lunch continued with little to no excitement, and pretty soon, Salazar found himself getting up with the rest of the students as they all finished up their lunches and began making their ways back to their classes. Salazar, with a last nod towards Helga, walked over to the Ravenclaw table where Rowena was still seated with Godric at the Ravenclaw table.

"You ready to get started, Rona?" He asked as he came to a halt behind her and Godric. Unlike the other three houses, the Ravenclaws seemed to be too enraptured with asking Rowena and Godric questions to have noticed that lunch had already ended.

Rowena nodded as she started to stand. "I am, Sal. Well, it was so nice to meet all of you, but I'd best be off to start working on sending the four of us home with Salazar. Please feel free to ask me any more questions anytime, and don't forget to keep up your studies!"

With the Ravenclaws sending them off with slightly disappointed farewells, the two set off towards their Chambers once more. Salazar was more than ready to finally get started on finding a way home.

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* * *

 **AN:** Please don't forget to Review!

I am trying my very best to use real students that were at Hogwarts, even if they were only names mentioned in passing, so I am using the website for all the students' names, houses and years. Tauri Black has thus far been the only Original Character not from the founder's time period. Let me know if you notice any inconsistencies, or blatantly wrong details.

Till next time!

~Dawn


	8. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor anything else recognizable. No profit is coming from this. I am merely playing in the sandbox of someone far more famous than myself.**

Unbetaed.

I might actually go back and do some more minor editing later on for this chapter; there are a few places that I didn't really like. I'll make a note of it if I change anything too heavily.

Without further ado, I present to you…

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* * *

 **What Went Wrong?**

~x~

 **Ch 7:** _Troubled Friendships_

 _~x~_

It had been just over two weeks since the quartet had arrived in the new world and Godric was positively bored out of his mind.

Currently, he was lying on his back in the middle of the training room, staring up at the fake sky. Like his mood, the heavens also seemed to be rather turbulent today, with the clouds a dreary grey.

So far today, he had only seen Helga, and that was only at breakfast. His little sister had been quick to scurry off afterwards too, to wherever it was she was heading. Rowena and Salazar hadn't even attempted to come to breakfast. He assumed they simply had had a House Elf bring them something to eat. Although, knowing his Hermione, she had probably gone down to the kitchens and brought up breakfast for the two of them herself.

Since the weather the last few weeks had been abysmal, he had pretty much been stuck inside. He did brave the weather once, however, to watch a practice of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Overall, the majority of his time was spent either training in their training room, or simply walking around aimlessly. He was pretty sure that of the four of them, he was the only founder that was seen and approached on a daily basis by all _four_ houses— well, maybe not Slytherin. In addition to this, he knew for a fact that he was the only one so far that was actually attending classes!

Imagine!

 _Him!_

Ronald Weasley was actually attending classes voluntarily just to subdue his boredom. Granted, he only attended the classes for subjects he liked, and was treated as more of a guest of honor than anything else. During these various classes, he often acted as a sort of teacher's aid. After the Professor had finished talking, he'd typically walk around the class, helping whatever student needed some extra instruction. Of course, the first few classes he had attended, he was pretty sure he distracted the class more than actually aided them in learning. They seemed to have gotten used to his presence now though.

Mostly.

This whole setup really reinforced just why he had loved teaching so much in his first life. To be able to see the lightbulb go off in one of his student's eyes was something that he didn't think he would ever tire of. Thus, it was not uncommon to find him sitting in a class taught by Professor McGonagall or Professor Lupin. He didn't really have the interest in any of the other subjects to attend other classes yet, and besides, he happened to _like_ those two particular professors.

Professor McGonagall was as stern as always, of course. Godric would probably never admit out loud how comforting it had been for him to realize that his old Head of the House was overall unchanged in this new world. She certainly didn't treat him like a student here though. He didn't think he would ever get used to the stern Professor treating him like a respected equal.

And Professor Lupin was always a joy to be around.

The two of them had hit it off in this world right off the bat. He actually had a feeling that the werewolf would be asking him to sub for his class pretty soon. After all, the full moon was coming up. He kept trying to drag Harry away from his research long enough to go for a visit but so far— much to his added frustration— he hadn't been able to get his stubborn friend to take a break.

Despite the classes being a form of entertainment for him, the red haired man hadn't attended any of them yet today. He wasn't really in the mood.

Beyond meals— sometimes not even then, like this morning— Ron rarely saw Harry or Hermione, due to them holing themselves up in their study. He had tried to see how things were going a few days ago, but they had chased him out of the study pretty fast. It was annoying him to no end, if he were honest. He knew that they needed to work on finding them a way to the correct past, but surely they could take a break? Ron was certain that this much studying couldn't possibly be good for them.

Ron missed both of their presence's in his life. Things were still a little awkward between him and Hermione, but they were quickly growing to be just as close as they had always been— at least, when he _actually_ got to spend time with her.

More than anything though, he missed his best mate. Back when they were just the Golden Trio, and Harry didn't actually remember his past life, he could always count on his friend to help him drag Hermione away from her studies. Now however, he felt like his friends had gone and gained up on him, even if he knew logically that that wasn't actually true. He knew that they were both smarter than him, and that this was often how it was during their previous lives, but the last ten years had gotten him used to always being a central part of their lives. Surely this return to their old ways didn't mean that they no longer wanted to spend any time with _him_ …

Right?

It was lucky he had Ginny to talk to, otherwise he was sure that he would have lost his temper about this entire set up long before now. Granted he and Ginny didn't do all that much together. She was his little sister after all, not his best mate.

It also didn't help that Helga seemed to have made fast friends with a number of the older Hufflepuff students and was often found hanging with them in their common room. According to her, they rarely said anything of worth regarding current events. Nevertheless, she mostly spent time helping build her house's confidence and acting as a tutor for the younger years.

After Ginny had began remembering her previous life at the end of her first year at Hogwarts, she had told Ron that she was dismayed at how her house was perceived in modern times by the other houses. Godric supposed that this was a way she was trying to rectify this judgement, even if it wasn't even in their reality.

Of course, she did spar with him on occasion.

It was frequently the highlight of Godric's day if Helga decided to grace him with her presence in their training room. Often, they'd spend the late morning, early afternoons in the training room. They wanted to take their training outside in the real fresh air but had thus far decided against it. The weather hadn't been the greatest, after all.

He had at first intended to spend a day or two in Hogsmeade, but his friends quickly shot that idea down. Naturally, he had argued, claiming that nobody had to know, and that he could simply sneak out using the back entrance through their chambers and go in his animagus form or something akin to that. Unfortunately, this had simply made Rowena raise an eyebrow at him.

"Your animagus form, Godric?" She had asked, slightly sarcastically, "I'm _sure_ that won't draw any attention."

Godric hadn't pushed _that_ idea any further. After all, he couldn't exactly disagree. A _lion_ wasn't exactly incognito, especially in a small Scottish town, even if it was a wizarding one. He did suggest that he go with some glamor charms instead, but that idea too was shot down rather quickly.

"And what will you do if the shops have wards against those sort of things?" Salazar had asked without looking up from what he was working on, "You'd be instantly outed."

Of course, the quartet had to send someone to scope out Hogsmeade and see what was different.

It just wasn't going to be him.

Ginny had instead gone down to the little town a few days ago in her own animagus form. Ron had to admit, her European Badger form _was_ a lot more anonymous than his majestic lion form, seeing that she was both rather small, and a native species of Great Britain.

He had tried really hard not to be _too_ jealous of his little sister, but he couldn't help if he was just a touch put off by her ability to escape the castle so easily. It simply wasn't fair.

Unfortunately, she hadn't actually been able to learn much more than what they had already put together. According to her, Hogsmeade was still standing, and while it certainly seemed to be a bit more despondent than it should have been. Helga figured that due to it's close proximity to the castle, that Hogsmeade was mostly protected from Voldemort's influence. Helga claimed that they certainly appeared to be gearing up for an attack though.

Helga also had noted the stronger wards surrounding the castle proper. At first, she had been worried that she would even be able to get through them without alerting anyone, but luckily, Hogwarts recognized her as her true owner and let her pass without a problem. The stronger wards really brought home the notion that Hogwarts really was the light sides last base.

It seemed that most of their assumptions regarding this reality thus far had been correct. Voldemort was certainly in power, and had never been temporarily defeated like in their reality.

There didn't seem to be many attacks like there were during their time though. Unlike how it had been in their reality, the British Wizarding World seemed to be relatively intact. Voldemort was more prominent in politics— as was apparent from The Daily Prophet, which he clearly controlled, along with the Ministry— and while he and his followers did get violent occasionally, Godric noted that it appeared that these attacks were more tactical moves, than random fits of violence brought on by his mood. In a way, it actually made Voldemort more unnerving to the quartet.

During a brief break the raven haired teen had taken from his studies, he had asked Harry why he though this might be.

"Why do you suppose that Voldemort has not caused as much destruction here as he did in our world? I mean, he has certainly had enough time— more time, actually. If he was attacking with the same ferocity that he did in our world, then I doubt that any left fighting him would still be alive by this point. Here, his strategies seem far more pointed— he is fighting smarter."

He had asked this when the two of them were sitting alone in the main hall. It had actually been the first time the two of them were alone together since coming here. Rowena had briefly left with Helga to take a walk around the school, to 'stretch her legs,' she had said.

"If I had to guess, then I don't think that the Voldemort of this world is quite as insane as the one we dealt with." Salazar murmured with his eyes shut.

Godric narrowed his eyes, "How do you reckon?"

"Simple. He never actually died in this world." Salazar opened his eyes lazily to look at his friend. "That means that he never lost his humanity. At least, what little bit he had to begin with… The way a horcrux works is that it anchors the soul so that it cannot leave this realm, but most people don't realize how dynamic the soul truly is. Just like being reincarnated does not guarantee that you will get to come back as a human in your next life, it is not the soul that gives one their humanity. So when our Voldemort had his human body destroyed and was brought back to life, he was more akin to Frankenstein's monster than a human. He lost everything that had made him human… Humanity, morality, empathy… He might have regained a humanoid body, and retained his memories, but he ceased to be human the moment he cast that curse at me as a baby."

Ron hadn't thought much more on the topic after that. In the present, he let out a groan of frustration, and turned his head to stare at the far wall.

Thinking of this sort of magic always put him in a bad mood.

The creation and usage of Horcruxes was always something that had disgusted him. While Godric was actually fine with most of what was now considered 'dark magic' in modern times, he certainly still disliked Olde Magick. Lucky for him, most Olde Magick had died out long ago, but there were a few pieces that seemed to have regrettably survived to this day. These little pieces were mostly ritual based as New Magic users couldn't exactly preform a point blank Olde Magick spell. The creation of a Horcrux was one of these last remnants of the Old Religion that had survived. It rather unnerved him whenever he received a reminder of how intimately his best mate knew these old arts.

He was just thankful that Harry seemed to have foregone using Olde Magick in the present era. Actually, since the topic hadn't come up— and Godric certainly didn't want to be the one to bring it up— he didn't even know for sure if Harry _could_ still practice the Old Religion's chaotic sorcery.

Salazar's usage of Olde Magick had always been a sore spot between the pair of them, and had been the basis for many of their fights. Unfortunately back then, Salazar— the stubborn man that he was— seemed to use Olde Magick even _more_ frequently after their first initial fight about it. Godric could only assume that the black haired man though that he could get the others accustomed to the magic in some backwards way if he used it more frequently.

But that wasn't what happened.

Instead, the magic had played a large part in the creation of a wedge in the friendship of the two men, and eventually, it had been the cause of what had driven Salazar away permanently. Of course, now he knew why his best friend had never actually returned— Helga had informed both him and Rowena shortly after she had learned of his untimely demise herself.

Ron once again found himself wishing that Harry had never remembered being Salazar as he laid there on the floor. Things had been so much simpler when they were just 'Ron and Harry'. Ever since his black haired friend had remembered, Godric couldn't help but feel that the wedge that had ended their friendship the first time was still between them, creating an uncomfortable aura around them— unfortunately, it had only grown worse since coming to this new reality.

His depressed thoughts were interrupted when he heard footsteps entering into the training room. Repositioning his body slightly so he could turn his head to look at the door, he could just see his little sister step into view.

She stopped a few paces away from where he laid. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing."

"Okay…" Ginny, replied eyeing him closely, "Well, get up then! I think all four of use could use some sunshine! Come help me drag Sal and Rona out of the study."

Ron gave her a long look before turning his attention back to the ceiling. It still displayed turbulent clouds. "Sunshine?" he asked.

"The _real_ sun, genius." Ginny rolled her eyes. "You know our ceilings are not perfect representations of the outside weather. Come on! It is too nice of a day to waste it indoors!"

That got Godric up.

He trailed her as she marched out of the training room and towards the private study. Upon arrival at it's closed doors, she slammed the door open and stepped in with such purpose that Ron couldn't help but feel a little awe. It was no wonder she had been sorted into Gryffindor in this life.

The original Hufflepuff she might be, but there was no denying her inner Gryffindor fire— or blood.

Both Salazar and Rowena looked up from their research startled.

"Come on you two," Ginny started, not giving them a moment to question what was going on, "I think we all need some fresh air. You two have been holing yourselves up in her for far too long. It can't possibly be healthy."

Ron found himself nodding behind his sister. "Yeah. A little break won't hurt. Besides we are _time traveling_ amongst other things. It's not like you have a deadline to make or anything."

"But—!"

"No buts!" Ginny snapped, before repeating herself more firmly, "This is not healthy. You two _seriously_ need to take a break."

~x~

After quite a bit more coaxing, the Weasley siblings had finally gotten both Harry and Hermione to join them outside. Harry was loathe to admit it, but he was rather thankful for the break.

He _had_ needed the fresh air.

Unlike during his childhood as Harry— where his relatives had practically conditioned him to _not_ do well in school— he had been quite studious as a young Salazar. He supposed that that came with the territory of having Merlin as a teacher. But regardless of how knowledgeable he now was in certain subjects, Harry was still not someone who liked learning for learning's sake.

He was simply ambitious.

The four of them had settled outside by the large beech tree situated just off the shore of the Black Lake. They were partly hidden by the tree from the direct view of the school, and thus had not yet been bothered in their little hideout by any of the students or staff.

With a soft sigh, Harry leaned his head back until it rested on the beech tree's trunk behind him, allowing his face direct access to the sun's warmth.

Like Ginny had so insisted, it really _was_ a nice day. There were a few sparse clouds in the sky but beyond them, the sun was free to beam down on them from the heavens with its wonderfully warm rays. It had the effect of making the otherwise chilly mid October day far more inviting.

Lifting his head up slightly, he gazed through half lidded eyes at his three companions. It was times like this with the four of them simply enjoying each others' presence, that he felt like a Hogwarts student again with none of the added baggage that had come from his old memories or the last few years of the war.

Like he could just forget how seemingly out of his control his life had actually become.

With a slight shake of his head to keep his thoughts from becoming too negative, he returned his attention back to his friends.

Ginny was lying closest to him— using his own lap as her pillow, actually. One of her arms was thrown over his left leg, securely keeping him from moving too much. He honestly didn't know if she was actually asleep or not, but her breathing was slow and regulated, and he was sure he hadn't felt her move in a while either. He smiled softly at her before letting his eyes shift to the others.

Hermione was the second closest to him, sitting just off to his left. Siting innocently on her lap was her notebook, where she was probably scribbling away at that Arithmancy problem she had been working on in her spare time. He had to fight the urge to chuckle at her antics and settled for simply shaking his head in amusement. He was pretty sure that the entire purpose of going outside was to get _away_ from the books for a little while. But he also knew her well enough to know that if he questioned her about it, she would simply claim that she _was_ relaxing.

She had a very confused sense of what should be counted as relaxation, he decided.

Finally, he let his eyes turn to look at Ron. The red head was seated with his legs criss-crossed a little bit away from the rest of them. He was seated with his back to him, so Harry could not see his face. He did seem to be staring off across the Black Lake though, as if he was hoping that it would answer some unknown question for him.

He knew his friend was antsy to get home. Seeing Fred and George so not like themselves had bothered Ron far more than he seemed willing to admit out loud. Harry could read between the lines though, having know his friend for so many years. That was actually part of the reason that he was pushing to finish the research that would send them to the correct timeline. He knew Ron didn't want to stay in this strange reality any longer than he himself did.

It had been for that reason that he was honestly surprised when the red head had backed up his sister about them coming outside to take a break.

Using the leg that Ginny wasn't currently holding hostage, Harry gently nudged Ron's wrist with his foot, quickly earning him the red head's attention

"Knut for your thoughts, 'Ric?" He asked quietly.

Ron shrugged, his eyes still far away. "Just thinking… Nothing all that noteworthy really."

Harry nodded, not really knowing what else to say.

Ever since he and Ron had arrived in this world, he had felt the slight tension between the two of them growing, and he honestly didn't know how to rectify it. He was sure it was left over from their first lives though; and that it involved topics that he _really_ didn't want to have to bring up first.

He knew it would just end in them fighting again…

After a moment, Ron turned his attention back on the lake, and Harry let his head fall back against the tree once more.

Suddenly, the sun didn't feel as warm and inviting as it had before.

A few minutes past in a heavy silence before suddenly, Harry could hear voices and fast approaching feet. He turned his head slightly so he could see the small group approach.

The first thing he noted was that they were all Gryffindors, and all faces he recognized from his world. Leading the pack were none other than Seamus Finnigan and Cormac McLaggen. Behind the two of them were a few other Gryffindors, all from various years. None were muggleborns though, he noted sadly.

He had scrutinized the Gryffindor table the last few weeks, whenever he happened to sit up at the High Table. After Ron had informed him of the lack of muggleborns, he couldn't help but try and hope he had somehow made a mistake. Unfortunately, just like he had been told, Harry hadn't spotted more than three individuals whom he knew to be muggleborns, and they were all first or second years. Dean Thomas, who, while technically a half-blood who was often mistaken for a muggleborn, was also mysteriously absent.

The small group beelined straight for Godric; not even seeming to realize that the other three founders were sitting under the tree as well.

"Hey Godric!" Cormac greeted with a grin. Harry had never known the wizard all that well, seeing as he had been in the year above him, but he sort of remembered him as being rather narcissistic during the few exchanges they had had. "I missed you in class today! McGonagall can be such a bore when you are not around to lighten things up!"

Harry couldn't help but cock his head to the side. Ron was attending classes? Weird.

Godric grinned in return, "Yeah. Sorry, I was sorta busy this morning, and now I am occupied with babysitting these two," Here he gestured widely towards both Harry—who couldn't help raising an eyebrow in silent retort— and Hermione, who was still too preoccupied with her notebook to have even noticed the arrival of the students. "They needed a break from all the studies. Although… Rowena doesn't seem to understand."

Salazar snorted as he eyed Rowena. It seemed that he was not the only one who had noticed her lack of 'relaxing'. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the Gryffindors glance his way.

"Of course, this was originally Helga's idea but as you can see, she is not exactly helping." Godric continued, gesturing towards his sleeping sister. The Gryffindor's chuckled slightly, and Salazar found himself smiling slightly as he shifted the leg her arm was holding down a touch.

"I don't know why she thought I looked like such a nice pillow," Salazar added quietly. "But I think it is safe to say that I am not allowed to return to the study anytime soon, let alone move. Actually, Godric, _she_ is the one that is doing the literal 'babysitting'. If you want to call me a baby, that is."

Godric laughed openly. "I suppose you have got me there, Sal! But, as for you being a baby? Well, you _are_ more than four years younger than me."

" _Everyone_ is younger than you, 'Ric. It's cause you are such an _old man._ " Salazar retorted with a smirk. This was a familiar argument. One they had bickered over countless times before in their previous lives.

"I am not an old man!" Godric responded instantly, mock offended.

"It's not something you have to be ashamed of, my friend. Everyone gets old." Salazar tsked trying hard to keep the grin off his face. With all of his skills at schooling his facial features, he couldn't seem to keep the corners of his mouth from twitching.

"I am not _old_! _You_ are the baby here!"

"Would you two _please_ stop with the senseless bickering? I am actually trying to work on something here!" Rowena interrupted suddenly.

Huh.

It seemed she actually _was_ aware of what was happening around her.

Godric and Salazar glanced at each other before bursting out laughing.

" _Honestly!_ " Rowena muttered.

"So, was there something you lot wanted?" Godric asked as he had finally stopped laughing. He was still sporting a wide grin though.

Oh! Right," Cormac said, "Well we were all hoping that you might consider putting on a demonstration."

Godric looked intrigued. "A demonstration?"

"Yeah!" Euan Abercrombie picked up the conversation. It took Salazar a moment before he remembered the young boy's name. He was a first year this year, if Harry wasn't mistaken. "Of dueling! You are said to be the greatest of your generation!"

"I was now?" Godric asked, looking quite smug.

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Abercrombie looked slightly panicked, "N-no! I mean, er— I-I don't know if you are the best _now_ , b-but—"

"—but I will _become_ the greatest?"

"Y-yeah." the little boy finished, looking close to tears. "Please don't tell anyone I told you that! I don't want to damage the time line! I-I um—"

Salazar snorted, cutting the boy off. "Oh please. The only damage you have done here is inflate his overly large ego even further. Everyone already knows that Godric is an exceptionally talented dueler. There are very few individuals who can hope to stand a chance against him, especially if the duel involves more than just magic."

"What Sal says is right," Godric agreed, "While I might never have been labeled as the 'greatest' yet in our time, it _is_ rather well known that I am an excellent dueler. No damage has been done, I'm sure."

Godric paused for a moment to give the boy a kind smile. "I trained in the sport of dueling from the time I was a young child, and was competing in tournaments in my father's name by the time I turned thirteen. Of course, what I excelled at were nonmagical weapon duels, and mixed duels—that is, duels that used both nonmagical weapons, and a wand."

While Godric talked, Salazar took a moment to take in the appearances of the group of Gryffindors. They really didn't look any different than they had in their world, to be honest, and it really was kinda surreal, Salazar decided, that so many of their colleagues, their _friends,_ were looking at Ron like he was some sort of god to them. Or how they were looking at _him_ , for that matter.

Oh, yes. Salazar hadn't missed the wary side-glances the Gryffindors had been shooting at him during his entire exchange with Godric moments ago. They were still shooting him suspicious glances, as a matter of fact.

In all, there were six Gryffindors who were standing before Godric. Besides Cormac, Seamus and Euan, he also recognized Katie Bell and Angelina Johnson from Quidditch, and Lee Jordan. Harry couldn't get over how odd it was to see the ever joking Quidditch Commentator without his two partners in crime.

Harry hadn't actually had the chance to talk to the twins yet, and it was not something he was necessarily _wanting_ to do. He'd rather see _their_ twins when they returned to their past anyways.

"So will you?!" Seamus asked, excited, cutting off whatever Godric was saying, "Will you duel for us?"

"Of course!" Godric resounded, standing up. He sounded just as excited as the students were, "Like I said, for me, dueling is a sport. A form of entertainment. I'd love to share it with all of you! After all, you guys already shared your sport, Quidditch with me! Awesome sport, by the way!"

"Awesome!" Cormac cheered. He seemed to be the ringleader of the group. "Now we just have to find someone who is willing _and_ good enough to take you on…"

"That won't be a problem! Sally can be my dueling partner!" Godric grinned. As he said this, he had been walking over to where Salazar was still seated and draped his arm across the raven haired teen's shoulders.

Salazar was taken by such surprise that he didn't even comment on the nickname. "…What?" he asked dumbly.

"You see Salazar here has always been one of my favorite sparring partners. Of course, he is godawful when it comes to using any sort of nonmagical weapon, but he makes up for it with magical ability! He's not too bad with a knife either. Though I know better than to let him get close enough for that to be of any use—"

"Uh, Godric? I don't think that this—"

"I actually tried to teach Sal how to use a sword once. _That_ didn't go too well. I didn't think that it was possible for anyone to almost stab themselves with there _own_ sword before. My _sister_ is a better swordsman than him— I guess that's not a really fair comparison though, Helga has always been rather gifted at using nonmagical weapons. Sal's just lucky he is so gifted in magic. He was called a protege once, you know—"

"Godric! I _really_ don't think I should duel you!" Salazar nearly shouted. The Gryffindors' eyes were wide as they stared at him with shock but Salazar was too focused on Godric to pay them any mind. On his lap, Helga stirred slightly.

"What?"

Salazar took a deep breath before he continued. His voice was now a lot calmer than it was before. "Wouldn't it be better if you just dueled Helga? Like you said, she is far better at nonmagical weapons than me anyways, and she isn't half bad with magical dueling either."

"But—"

"Godric." Salazar interrupted again. "You _know_ how our duels get— we tend to get far too competitive and we don't exactly stick to using tickling charms. I don't think one of _our_ duels would be a good thing to showcase in this era."

"So we will use protection spells… and tune it down a bit— we can stick to pre-agreed upon spells that are not too damaging. Hell, we can even let Headmaster Dumbledore look over our list beforehand! _Come on!_ I hardly see you anymore now that you are working on that project with Rona!"

"That project is going to send us home! And I still don't think that this is a good idea."

"Tough." Godric asserted, lifting his chin. He had since removed his arm from Salazar's shoulder and was now siting directly in front of him. "Because I am not taking no for an answer."

"Just agree already, Salazar." Rowena butted in, proving once again that she was more aware of her surroundings than she seemed to be.

Frustrated, Salazar tightly closed his eyes for a long minute. ' _Why can't the others see how stupid of an idea this is?_ ' He thought to himself. ' _Something is bound to go wrong, I just know it!_ '

"Fine." He said aloud, at last, "But you must agree to comply with all of those terms that you listed out."

"Sure." Godric agreed easily, "Well, it looks like you guys have got yourselves a duel!"

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 **AN:** Please don't forget to Review!

As for a Horcrux being Olde Magick, I'd like to point out that it could be said that there was one present in the Merlin tv show, as seen with the jewel containing part of Cornelius Sigan's soul. It simply made sense for this horrible piece of magic to be Olde rather than New. Besides, it gives Godric a solid base to hate Olde Magick. Not that he doesn't have other reasons of course!

And I do believe that this story has officially reached 40k words! Cheers! This story is still very much just getting started too! Its most certainly going to be a long one!

Till next time!

~Dawn


	9. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Merlin, nor anything else recognizable. No profit is coming from this. I am merely playing in the sandboxes of those far more famous than myself.**

Unbetaed.

So glad I finally got to write this chapter! I have been building up to this for a while now! Please let me know what you think! This is the most action that I have ever written, I think… And I'm a little unsure with how it turned out.

Without further ado, I present to you…

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 **What Went Wrong?**

~x~

 **Ch 8:** _The Duel_

 _~x~_

The day of the duel dawned bright and early.

Despite it being a Saturday, Harry woke with the first light of dawn and found himself unable to go back to sleep. He stepped into the still dark Main Hall of the Chambers with a sigh. He knew that at this early hour, it was pretty much guaranteed that he was the first one of the quartet to wake up.

His first instinct was to just get an early start in the study researching— he knew it wouldn't be too long before Hermione joined him anyways, she always got up rather early— but quickly decided against it. With his very public duel scheduled to occur in the late morning, he knew that there was no way he would be able to actually focus. If anything, he would just manage to annoy Hermione and eventually get himself kicked out of the study.

Everything had already been set up and approved for the coming duel. Keeping his word, Godric had sat down with Salazar after dinner two nights ago and the two of them had come up with a list of spells that they both agreed to for the duel. They weren't reducing themselves to tickling charms, of course, but they did make sure that none of their spells were considered outright 'dark magic' for this modern age. There were a few borderline curses on the list though.

They had then approached Dumbledore with the list. The elderly headmaster had seemed relieved when he had looked the list over, and Salazar was certain that it was due to his own participation in the duel.

It had annoyed the black haired teen slightly, but he had forced himself to get over it pretty quickly. ' _Still_ ,' a part of him wanted to argue in frustration, ' _It was_ my _idea to come up with approved spells in the first place. Godric is just as likely to throw around "dark" magic as me!_ '.

In addition, Dumbledore had suggested that the two founders utilize the quidditch field for their duel.

"After all, I am sure we will get a full stadium of eager students wanting to watch such a presentation!" He had said with a twinkle in his eyes.

Joy.

The headmaster had also agreed to set up some basic wards around the field for a layer of added protection for those seated in the stands.

All in all, everything was ready for the duel.

Salazar took a deep breath as he glanced once more at the doors that he knew housed his sleeping friends. He knew that waiting for one of them to wake before venturing out of the chambers would be the responsible thing to do, but he was tired of waiting and having nothing better to do than think on the coming duel. So, with a last glance at their closed doors, Harry strode towards the Chamber's exit and made his way up and out of the Girl's Lavatory.

Walking slowly towards the Great Hall, Harry was genuinely thankful for the quiet and empty halls of the early weekend morning. It made him realize how long it had been since he had truly had any alone time. He certainly hadn't been alone— unless he was in his own bedroom, that was— since arriving here, and before that, he had been first on the run with Ron and Hermione as they fought Voldemort the first time. And then, after Voldemort's defeat, he had been with Hermione almost unceasingly as they worked on creating the ritual that had gotten them here in the first place.

He found it mildly ironic that before that, he had desperately been wishing to _not_ always be alone whilst living at the Dursley's.

Regardless, he found himself enjoying his quiet walk with only Hogwarts, and her gentle sentience in the back of his mind for company.

Upon arrival at the Great Hall, Salazar was not too surprised to note that only a few were up and already partaking in breakfast. Up at the High Table, Severus Snape, along with who he believed were the muggle studies professor and the arithmancy professor, were the only ones seated. He gave Snape a brief nod before turning his attention towards the students' tables.

The lack of students seated also did not surprise him in the least. No Hufflepuffs or Gryffindors had made their way into the Great Hall at this early hour. On the other hand, there was actually a handful of Ravenclaws already eating at the far end of their table. All were older students, who, if Harry had to guess, were probably stressing over their soon to come NEWTS.

Turning his head at last to the Slytherin table, Salazar quickly noted that there was only one student already up and eating.

Draco Malfoy.

With a touch of hesitation, which was easily overtaken by his own curiosity, Salazar found himself approaching the blond boy. As he made his way over, he glanced up at the High Table once more, wondering if Snape would stop him from sitting alone with a student. To his surprise, he noted that the Potions Master seemed to be making a point of ignoring the raven haired teens actions. Smiling to himself, Salazar returned his attention to the Malfoy heir.

"Good morning." He greeted neutrally as he approached.

The blond boy's shoulders visibly stiffened at his unexpected greeting, before he seemingly forced himself to relax and turn his head around. Salazar could still see the nervousness in his eyes, however. "Good morning," the Malfoy heir echoed. "To what do I owe the honor of your attention?"

Salazar gave the boy a slight smirk. _Malfoy_ thought it was an honor to have his attention? Well, he supposed there were _some_ perks to being Salazar Slytherin. "Nothing. I simply thought I'd say hello. I do believe that you are the only Slytherin that I have yet to actually speak with in this time period."

Sitting down next to the Malfoy heir, Salazar quickly dished his plate up with some eggs and fruit.

"I thought the other Slytherins would have already warned you away from me, and told you about your heir?"

"Yes, they have. But why is that exactly," Salazar asked, his fork hovering above his plate, "I have, of course, already heard your housemates opinions about you, but I am rather curious about your side of the story."

"My parents were followers of the Dark Lord." He started bluntly, "When I was thirteen, I almost died due to following the Dark Lord's orders. After that, my parents decided to distance themselves from him and returned to France for their own safety. I'll probably join them after I graduate."

"Probably?"

Draco shrugged before answering. He seemed a lot more comfortable around him, Salazar noted. "This is my home. I'd rather not leave it if I can help it."

Salazar nodded thoughtfully. "I can certainly understand that. I can also understand why most of the Slytherins seem to stay away from you, but what I don't understand is that I don't think I've ever seen you with _any_ other students."

Draco snorted. "Please. Who would want to hang around me? I'm an outcast! None of the other Slytherins would dare be seen with me."

Salazar raised an eyebrow. "It can't possibly be that bad. While I have no doubt that those who are supporters— or, at least their parents are supporters— would shun you, surely the more neutral parties would be willing to at least give you a chance!"

"You don't understand!" Draco exclaimed fervently, with just a touch of desperation, "Those who support the Dark Lord would _kill_ me if it weren't for Uncle Severus and the fact that Dumbledore is headmaster! They only shun me because that is the _worse_ thing they can do given the current circumstances. The neutral parties wouldn't dare be seen with me; it would only incur the wrath of those who do support him! I go out of my way to avoid every Slytherin just to make things easier for everyone. As for all the students outside of Slytherin, well, I am _still_ a Malfoy."

"You say that like it's a bad thing. Is it?"

"No!" Malfoy responded instantly, "I'm _proud_ of my heritage! It's just—"

Malfoy cut himself off, and after a moment of silence, Salazar prompted, "It's just..?"

Malfoy sighed looking down at his mostly untouched breakfast, "The Malfoy's are not very well liked in Great Britain, okay? We were respected, yes, for our money and status in society, but now? _Nobody_ would be caught dead hanging around me."

"I'm still sitting here, aren't I?" Salazar asked after a moment.

Malfoy looked up at the older teenager, his eyes narrowing, "Why is that, anyway? You must know that I somewhat openly stand against your heir?"

"I'm aware." Salazar said carefully, "It's part of what I find so curious about you. Besides, I never said I _support_ this 'supposed heir'. I'm not even sure if I believe that he really is my heir. I certainly don't have any children to speak of currently."

Malfoy looked confused. "But I thought you were a Dark Wizard?" he stated, but it came out as more of a question.

"I am." Salazar agreed easily. "But 'dark' is just a label— and if I am not mistaken, its meaning has changed greatly since the time when Hogwart's was founded. Besides, 'dark' is most certainly not synonymous with 'evil', and I rather like to think that I am _not_ evil."

Draco nodded thoughtfully and went back to his breakfast. Salazar too turned his attention back towards his plate and took a bite of his eggs.

As Salazar ate the last bite of his eggs, he noticed that a few more students were beginning to trickle in. No more Slytherins yet though.

Regardless, he stood up and offered Draco a small smile, "It was nice talking with you, Mr. Malfoy. Truly."

With that, Salazar turned and made his way up to the High Table and took a seat next to Snape.

"What did you think of him?" Severus asked quietly, as soon as he was seated.

Salazar furrowed his brows. "He seemed like a good kid." He responded slowly, not entirely sure why Snape was asking. "Cunning for sure, but also lonely."

Snape nodded slightly in agreement but refused to comment further on the topic. With a shake of his head, Salazar let his thoughts drift back to the coming duel.

~x~

After breakfast, Salazar had headed back down to his suite to get himself ready for the duel. He had had a few hours to kill before the duel was set to occur, and most of that time he spent pacing in his bedroom. He had gotten himself ready for the duel almost immediately after returning to his suite. Now all he had to do was wait.

And pace.

He had decided to don the same clothes that he had arrived in, seeing as they were the most duel worthy clothes that he currently had in his possession. Actually, they _were_ dueling garments. The outfit that he had arrived in had been modeled after what he had typically worn in battle.

Most of the clothes that he and the others had been wearing for the last few weeks had been provided for them by the Headmaster. Thus, he luckily hadn't had to wear his more medieval clothing everyday. It wasn't that the battle garments were uncomfortable or anything, Harry just felt a little self conscious in them.

They were rather striking after all.

Most of his outfit consisted of form fitting black leather, and along with his black hair— which he had pulled back into a ponytail for the duel— his alabaster skin and green eyes stood out even more strikingly. He was still a little worried about letting his scar be so visible, but he figured that since Voldemort had never been defeated, he couldn't have given anyone a similar scar.

As for his clothing, his legs were completely covered from view by black flexible pants and black combat boots pulled up over the tops. Likewise, his upper body was covered by a form fitting black leather-armor jacket with a high collar. The material that most of the clothing was made up of was in fact basilisk hide. His original battle armor had been made from a snake he had killed on his travels with Merlin, but unfortunately, the original had been lost in time. So Harry— prior to their departure to this new reality— with the help of Ron, had been forced to harvest Cyrene's carcass for materials to have a new set made. It had luckily not decayed too much since her death at the end of his second year. He supposed that that was one of the perks of her being a magical creature.

Anyways, the leather armor was practically a twin to his original set, and it fit him like a glove.

Next came his weapons. Like Godric had informed the Gryffindors last Thursday, when the duel had been first brought up, Salazar was absolutely hopeless when it came to fighting with most weapons. The one weapon that he did have some talent in though was daggers and knives. He assumed that this was mostly due to his rough childhood. Knives got him out of quite a bit of trouble when he was a child, as well as being necessary to kill any wild game he managed to capture— it also happened to be the only weapon that he had managed to get ahold of as a child and successfully conceal on his person.

In total, he had three weapons with him: two knives, strapped on his back— which he wasn't too bad at throwing— and an ornate dagger which was kept in its sheath on his right leg. The knives weren't anything special— actually, he had picked them up in a somewhat sketchy shop in Knockturn Alley before he came here. The dagger, however was another story.

He was forever thankful when Helga had retrieved his beautiful dagger from somewhere safe that she had stashed it after his death.

Like Godric's sword, and Helga's prized axe, his dagger was also a gift from Godric's father. A custom work made by the goblins. Of course, back then, the goblins did not run a Wizarding bank. Instead, they mostly kept to their own kingdoms and stayed away from the humans. Some of the older magical families, such as the Gryffindors were in contact with various magical creatures of old, which was how Gilbert Gryffindor had obtained the custom made weapons for his children. Salazar was pretty sure that the man considered him some sort of honorary Gryffindor; at least, that was the only reason that he could think of as to why the late Lord Gryffindor would also gift _him_ a weapon.

The dagger's blade was made from the same pure Goblin silver as Godric's sword, however, unlike the sword, the dagger's hilt was also made of silver, inlayed with both emeralds and diamonds. Also unlike Godric's sword, his name was not written anywhere on the dagger. However, if one looked closely, they would notice that the hilt itself was actually made to appear like a very abstract 'S'.

And of course his wand was strapped to his right wrist, ready to be ejected from it's holster at any moment.

Over the top of everything, and even hiding his weapons mostly from view, was his shimmery dark green cloak with silver clasps. The cloak had been commissioned from Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions shortly before he had left.

A knock on his door broke his train of thoughts. He quickly strode over to the door and opened it. Godric stood on the other side, looking to be similarly dressed in the clothes he had arrived in, his trusty sword strapped to his side.

Unlike the leather that Salazar wore, Godric had on his stereotypical golden chainmail that had been preserved in the Gryffindor vault that had once been located beneath their castle. The castle was long gone now— nothing was left except for parts of the outer wall, hidden from the naked eye by wards— however the vault had been preserved due to all the ancient wards and blood magic that had been cast upon it. Whilst he and Hermione had worked on the ritual that brought them here, the two Weasley siblings had sought out the old vault, eventually uncovering it and successfully finding a lot of their old possessions. Harry was pretty sure that that was where his dagger had been kept, actually.

As for the red cloak with the golden Gryffindor family crest that Godric wore over the top, well, that had had to be remade. It had been commissioned at the same time as his, actually. Harry was pretty sure that Madam Malkin had though that they were a bit loony or something. If Salazar was honest, he would say that Godric's attire reminded him of the clothes that he had seen the knights of Camelot wearing in various paintings Merlin had shown him.

"Ready?" Godric asked, eyeing Salazar's apparel.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Salazar sighed back, as he stepped forward.

Godric rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, Harry. Try not to be so dramatic. Whatever happened to your Gryffindor spirit?"

"I remembered I was in fact a Slytherin." Harry retorted with a slight laugh. "Besides, I almost _was_ put in Slytherin by your annoying hat. Probably would have been too if it hadn't been for you and Malfoy. I was pretty determined to be put in the same house as my very first friend, and to stay away from Malfoy."

Ron huffed in amusement, but did not respond. Harry could tell he was touched by his comment however. The two began to make their way out of the Chambers and towards the Quidditch field.

Like the Thursday afternoon that the quartet had spent by the Black Lake, the sun was shining brightly today too. It seemed that the good weather was going to hold out through the weekend.

When they arrived at the Quidditch field, they were greeted by an already overflowing stadium. Many students were actually seated on the field itself. Actually, there seemed to be more than just students and professors in the stands. Salazar spotted a good number of people he recognized as Order members also sprinkled amongst the crowds.

The Headmaster, and Heads of Houses, along with Helga and a slightly annoyed looking Rowena were standing in the middle of the pitch waiting for them.

The pair wasted no time in striding over to the small group.

"Sorry. Did we make you guys wait on us?" Godric asked.

"No, no." Dumbledore responded merrily. "We all just arrived a bit early, I'm afraid. Everyone is pretty excited to watch the two of you duel it seems. Myself included!"

' _Great,'_ Salazar thought to himself with just a touch of sarcasm.

"Now," Dumbledore continued. "I have placed a protective field around the inner portion of the Quidditch pitch. You can see that it is tied to the grey stones I have situated around us. It should protect your audience from any backlash. Just make sure that the two of you remain within the protective field. I will activate it as soon as I step out of the protected zone."

Salazar nodded absentmindedly as he looked around them. Sure enough, he could just spot the grey stones that were sticking up in the grass. Dumbledore had created a pretty large oval shaped area for them to fight within. It seemed that the students had already been informed of the protection too, as some were situated just outside the protected area for front row seating.

"It all looks good to me, Headmaster." Godric agreed.

"Splendid! We will just leave you two to it then!" Dumbledore replied with a smile as he moved to step out of the oval. The others quickly followed him.

"Be careful you two!" Rowena called as she was pulled after the others by Helga. Salazar took a moment to watch them cross the boundary. The group had come to a stop right outside the ward are were watching expectantly. With a sigh, Salazar turned his attention back on Godric.

"Ready?" Godric grinned.

Salazar dipped his head, and as one, the two turned away from each other and strode to opposite ends of the oval field. He was slightly surprised to find Draco seated all alone at his end of the oval, just past the boundary.

With a touch of hesitation, Salazar undid the silver clasp of his cloak and pulled it off, letting all of his weapons and black armor become undisguised in the stark sunlight. Folding it under his arm, he held it out to the boy.

"Would you mind holding onto this for me?" he asked, he didn't really know why he kept reaching out to this version of Draco Malfoy today, but the boy had certainly caught his interest. He was just so _different_ than how he was in their world. "It can be a pain to fight in."

Draco blinked in surprise before hesitantly reaching out for the beautiful cloak. "S-sure."

Salazar nodded towards him once more before glancing once more at where the Headmaster was standing. He could see Dumbledore murmuring under his breath, and with a wave of his wand the air shimmered where he knew the ward to be before it disappeared from view again.

He then turned on his heels to face Godric. Godric had already faced his direction and had taken off his own red cloak, displaying his beautifully made magical golden chainmail. Around his waist a brown leather belt was tied, which served to hold his chainmail both closer to his body and also hold the sheath for his sword. If Salazar hadn't known any better, he would assume he was facing a fearsome Knight, rather than his friend.

Next to his friend's valiant getup, he was pretty sure he looked downright villainy. It honestly made him feel a little more self conscious than he already was.

Taking a deep breath, he flicked his wand out of its holster and into his hand, never taking his eyes off of his friend. In response, Godric drew both his wand and his sword and gave the sword a few experimental swings.

As one, the two began to slowly step towards each other and to Salazar, their audience's voices became distant background noice.

" _Lacarnum Inflamarae!_ " Godric shouted suddenly.

Salazar spun out of the way as a decent sized fireball flew directly at him. He took a moment to watch it impact with the ward and dissipate into nothingness. Nodding to himself that the protections were indeed working as intended, Salazar turned his attention back towards Godric just in time to duck around the red haired man's sword.

Salazar quickly backed up a few paces— moving closer towards the center of the dueling oval— before pointing his wand at the ground and casting a silent explosion charm at the earth. His spell caused dirt and grass to explode upwards like a makeshift wall, successfully keeping Godric from getting too close to him again and temporarily obscuring him from view.

Reestablishing the distance between them, Salazar unsheathed his dagger and switched his wand to his non dominant hand. It was far easier for him to cast spells with his non dominant hand than it was to wield the dagger.

While he was busy reorganizing himself, Godric was not exactly standing idle either. The man had instead transfigured four life sized golems out of the earth. The red head quickly animated them and together, the five figures rushed towards Salazar.

Salazar make quick work with three out of the four golems with well placed ' _Bombarda Maxima_ ' spells before he was forced to once again deal with Godric's sword. This time, he met it straight on with his dagger.

A loud metallic clank resounded throughout the stadium as the two goblin made weapons crossed blades.

Knowing that in a battle of strength, Godric would win every time, Salazar quickly shot a spell at Godric's stomach at point blank range. It probably wasn't the most honorable move, but Salazar didn't exactly have a choice. ' _Besides_ ', he reasoned with himself, _'Godric should have seen it coming. I don't exactly fight fair._ '

The silent ' _Everte Statum'_ spell hit Godric straight on and caused the redhead to fly backwards. Salazar didn't watch to see where his friend landed however, because his attention was quickly diverted towards the final golem.

" _Avifors!_ " The raven haired teen barked aloud. The spell hit the golem dead on and the clay creation erupted into a flock of birds. He followed up the spell with a second silent one, directing the birds to attack Godric.

Godric, recognizing what he had done, quickly cast a silent ' _Vera Verto_ ' charm, causing dozens of water goblets to fall from the sky onto the field around them.

Salazar chuckled slightly and couldn't help but call out to his friend. "Really Godric, I know you are fond of Transfiguration, but I didn't think you would be using such a basic spell during one of our duels, even if we are restricting ourselves."

Godric shrugged good-naturedly, pausing in his spell play. "Its always good for students to see that even a mundane spell that you learn in the classroom can be helpful in a real duel."

Salazar merely grinned in return and shot a powerful water charm at Godric. Godric countered the curse with a stream of fire. The two elemental spells met in the middle and the entire field exploded in heavy hissing steam, which made Salazar's entire world go white.

He couldn't see anything.

Salazar cursed his stupidity and quickly moved to his left in fear of Godric's sword. Holding his dagger with his teeth, Salazar grabbed one of the two throwing knives from its sheath on his back and threw it in the direction that he had come from before casting another spell that forced all of the steam to dissipate.

Sure enough, Godric now stood exactly where he had been standing, his sword mid swing. His eyes widened when he saw the approaching knife and with practiced control, he brought his sword up to block the knife's trajectory.

Godric sent a silent purple colored hex in retaliation and Salazar batted it away with an easy counter-charm. Removing the dagger from his mouth and placing it back into its sheath, Salazar steadied himself for another round of intense spell casting.

As Salazar had expected, the duo then proceeded to trade curses and counter curses with each other, in a way that was more akin to that of a modern competitive duel. Harry was honestly glad for the slight break from running around the dueling arena. If this duel had shown him anything, it was that he was sorely out of shape. He supposed that that was to be expected though, seeing as he had been spending most of his time since the defeat of Voldemort locked in a study with Rowena.

It was eye opening though, to say the least.

It seemed he wasn't the only one who had noticed his physical shape, or lack there of, "You are _really_ out of shape there, aren't you, Sally?" Godric commented tauntingly with an amused grin.

At this point, Salazar had moved closer to the wards where a large number of students were seated. Godric stood closer to the center of the dueling arena. He narrowed his eyes in annoyance. He _knew_ the students could hear Godric as clearly as he could.

Instead of responding vocally, Salazar merely sent another pair of silent hexes at his friend. Godric ducked under one of them and brought up a shield to block the other.

While his focus remained on Godric, Salazar could here the worried murmurs of the students seated behind him. In confusion, he glanced back at them, only to find their eyes tracking the trajectory of the spell that Godric had just successfully ducked. Instead of dissipating on the wards like it should have, he was shocked to find that it had instead traveled beyond them, hitting one of the stone pillars that made up the foundation for the stadium. Luckily, it didn't seem to cause any damage.

Eyes widening with realization, Salazar turned back to face his friend and opened his mouth to alert Godric of the new situation, only to find a yellow curse tracking straight towards him.

Instinctual reflexes kicked in and Salazar spun out of its way, only to watch in what felt like slow motion as it made its way towards a group of first year students.

Thrusting up his dominant right hand— the hand that wasn't currently carrying his wand— he incanted the first spell that came to his mind.

" _Scildan!_ "

The word was out of his mouth before he could even think properly and he could feel his eyes burn with the familiar heat that came with the casting of an Olde Magick spell. A hazy white shield ghosted into existence around the first years in response to his spell, causing the wayward curse to bounce harmlessly off to the side where it struck the grass and sizzled out.

Around him, the stadium had gone quiet.

Salazar had frozen, his eyes staring wide at where the yellow curse had hit the grass. He couldn't believe what he had just done, and in front of an audience too!

Harry hadn't even known if he _could_ use Olde Magick before now, to be honest. He hadn't actually _tried_ yet since regaining his old memories _._ He had honestly been a bit afraid to, seeing as it had been the indirect cause for his death and the root for so much animosity between himself and Godric.

" _Salazar!_ "

Salazar felt his stomach turn upside down at the sound of Godric's furious voice.

"What _._ The _. Hell!_ "

Salazar took a second to glance over at where the Dumbledore was still standing with with the Heads of House, Helga and Rowena. Both Helga and Rowena's faces had gone stark white. He didn't even take the time to look at the others. He didn't _want_ to see their expressions.

Blinking his eyes quickly, Salazar struggled to keep control of his emotions as he finally turned to face Godric.

While Salazar had stood frozen, the red head had taken the time to stride over to Salazar. Thus when Salazar had turned around, he found himself standing nose to nose with his friend, and oh was Godric pissed.

He felt sick.

"What were you _thinking_?!" Godric continued to rant loudly, " _Dark Magic_ , Salazar? And so close to the students too! What if something went wrong, huh? What would you have done then? You know how chaotic that magic can be! I can't _believe_ you—!"

It was just like old times.

In fact, Harry could hardly see Ron in the redheaded man standing before him, only Godric. And going off of what Godric was saying, it sounded like he was a bit caught up in the moment too. Salazar's mind was a bit too jumbled at that point to really think too hard on that little fact.

He too was having a hard time keeping in the present.

"I was _thinking_ that I needed to protect the students." Salazar cut off Godric's rant, his voice unnaturally calm as he worked to keep his emotions in check.

"And you forgot you could use your _wand_ to do that just as easily," Godric scoffed. "I am so _tired_ of you using that _sorcery_ so unrestricted. One of these days, you are going to get someone killed. "

Salazar narrowed his eyes at the barely hidden barb. "I can control myself just fine, thank you."

"Clearly not!" Godric responded instantly, "Otherwise you would have used your wand just now instead of _that_ —"

" _Guys!_ " Helga's voice barked out, temporarily drawing Salazar's attention away from Godric. He could see her and Rowena along with some of the professors rapidly approaching in the corner of his eye.

In the back of his mind, Salazar noted that Godric was still ranting.

"Godric!" Salazar finally interrupted, "If I hadn't cast that spell, the students would have been hit with whatever that yellow curse you threw at me was. I didn't have time to even _think_ , if I had, I _would_ have used New Magic!"

"Would you have?" Godric questioned dubiously, "Because I don't believe you. You are too obsessed with using that sorcery. Its your _default_. You made that obvious because _clearly_ using sorcery is more instinctive for youthan using wand magic."

By this time, the others had reached them.

Rowena quickly came in between them, gently pushing Godric backwards, while Helga grabbed Salazar's elbow tightly, as if to keep him from physically assaulting Godric. As if she _thought_ he'd do that.

"Guys!" Helga repeated, just as insistently, " _Not here_."

' _It really_ is _just like old times.'_ Salazar thought to himself humorlessly. His emotions were getting harder and harder to keep in check as the realization of what had just happened sunk in. So many of the fears that he had had since remembering who he was suddenly seemed so much more real.

He didn't know if he could handle such a rejection a second time.

Not now.

Not after how much he had lost as Harry Potter.

Abruptly, Salazar turned on his heels, ripping out of Helga's grip and stalking off in the direction of the castle. He needed to get away from his friends, or else he really _was_ going to lose his control. So, just like he had done some many times in his past life, Salazar ran.

He could feel tears prickling his eyes as he turned his back on both his friends and the entire populace of Hogwarts.

Salazar _knew_ that the duel had been a bad idea.

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* * *

 **AN:** Please don't forget to Review!

Does this count as a cliffhanger..? hehe.

We are finally getting to see some action! And the story is finally building in its plot! So exciting!

Here is a list of all spells that I actually named. All were found on wiki and are actual spells used in _Harry Potter_ or _Merlin_ :

 _Lacarnum Inflamarae-_ Creates a fireball. Hermione used a low powered version 1st year.

 _Bombarda Maxima-_ creates large, violent explosion.

 _Everte Statum-_ Dueling spell that causes opponent to fly backwards (powerful, at least in the HP movies.)

 _Avifors-_ Turns target into a flock of birds.

 _Vera Verto-_ Transfigures an animal into a water goblet. Taught in 2nd year

 _Scildan-_ The Shield Spell from the tv series, _Merlin_. In the show, this spell is only used to protect its castor, so I have taken some liberties to allow Salazar to use it to protect others.

Till next time!

~Dawn


	10. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Merlin, nor anything else recognizable. No profit is coming from this. I am merely playing in the sandboxes of those far more famous than myself.**

Unbetaed.

I had planned on releasing this chapter yesterday, but then life got in the way. Hope you all enjoy, and I hope it answers some of the questions you guys asked in the reviews!

Without further ado, I present to you…

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 **What Went Wrong?**

~x~

 **Ch 9:** _Prejudices_

 _~x~_

Ginevra Weasley stood frozen as she watched the misunderstood man whom she cared for more than he probably knew, flee from them. It made her stomach clench uncomfortably to realize that history was beginning to repeat itself.

Ginny, being the first one of the quartet to actually remember her first life, felt that she probably had the best grasp on understanding herself—past and present. She also knew that she was quite apt at keeping her two sets of memories separate.

She had though Ron had had a pretty strong grip on keeping them separate too. Clearly, she was wrong on at least this front.

It had been clear to her during that entire exchange that both males had been, at least temporarily, transported back into the time of their first lives. Really, that fight was so stereotypical of what she had once come to expect between the two of them, that even _she_ had had to keep reminding herself that that was the past. But then again, she hadn't been prepared to see them at each others throats again in this life. Not like _that_ , anyways.

It had been why she had grabbed Salazar's elbow like she had. It was the only way she could think of to physically _ground_ him to reality. No matter who they were pretending to be, they weren't their past lives; The man who she had once been married to was no longer Salazar.

He was Harry.

Helga returned her thoughts to Godric with a slight shake of her head.

Or maybe she just misinterpreted how ingrained Godric's hatred for Olde Magick really was.

He always had been rather pigheaded.

In _both_ lives.

She knew that a part of it came down to how he had been raised. Just like with the Weasleys, the Gryffindor family was about as 'light' as a family could get. She got to see their scorn for what was then often termed 'dark magic' once she had come to live with them. Godric, on the other hand, had been raised with those extreme bias that the Gryffindors held against 'Olde Magick' from birth. He had grown up hearing horror stories of what Olde Magick could do, both to others and even to its own castor. Even looking at more neutral stories from when the Old Religion had been commonplace, it was hard to find a story where sorcery was not destroying _something._

Merlin was perhaps the only known practicer of Olde Magick who was not scorned by the 'light' New Magic families. And _that_ she knew was due to really only two reasons: One, Merlin, as a highly esteemed prophesied figure, was considered _incapable_ of going evil. Two, he was magic incarnate. Thus, they figured the magic couldn't harm him, even if he wanted it to. It was silly, she knew, but as she had come to realize in _both_ her lives, people tended to act like sheep when scared. And just like Dumbledore today— his manipulations and all— Merlin was their leader; someone they could hide behind when times got tough. So, even if they did grumble behind his back occasionally, they would never truly turn on him. Even if he _was_ technically a creature of the Old Religion.

So while Helga never feared Olde Magick as greatly as her brother did— which she put down to the fact that she had spent part of her childhood in the north, where such magic was not considered any different from her own— she was well aware of just _why,_ her brother was so horrified by it.

Truth be told, she was leery of it too, to some extent at least, as was Rowena. It _had_ terrified her that her husband had been so comfortable using it back then. She— along with all the others— was so scared that one day, he would loose control of the chaotic magic and it would backlash and seriously injure him…

And in a way, that was exactly what had happened in the end. Salazar himself had admitted to her that his magic had exploded in his panic, killing not only himself but all those innocent souls who had been unlucky enough to be near by. The magic could be incredibly difficult to control and chaotic in nature. There were many documented cases of sorcerers who had been driven crazy by meddling in the magic, the Lady Morgana aside.

But regardless to her personal feelings for the magic, Helga was still pissed at Godric.

As soon as Salazar had disappeared from her line of sight, she turned on Godric, fully intent to tear him a new one. However, before she could even open her mouth she was taken aback by the horror stricken expression that now adorned her brother's face.

"I really screwed up, didn't I?" He asked quietly, his voice barely above a whisper.

"You really did." She agreed.

"I hate Olde Magick." He reiterated, his voice still quiet.

"I know you do."

"It's just so _dangerous!_ I-I—" He cut himself off, taking a quick breath and rubbing his right hand over his face.

Realizing he wasn't going to continue, Helga spoke up again. "I know. I feel the same way, but _Salazar_ doesn't, and further, he was _trained_ to use the magic safely. You _know_ this, just as I do. Besides, he only used it to protect the children."

Godric took a deep breath, "But he _could_ have just used his wand."

"Yes, he could have… but he didn't. Either way, the result would have been the same, you know."

"Yeah…"

Helga nodded. She could feel her own anger deteriorating to nothing, leaving her simply feeling numb. After a moment, Godric turned away without another word, slowly walking in the direction of the Black Lake. She let him go silently. Knowing her brother, Ginny figured he just wanted some time to himself to think over everything.

She was only mildly surprised that Rowena hadn't made any comments during their entire exchange, typically the older witch was right there with her when it came to calming down or scolding her brother. Glancing over at her, she could see Rowena looking off in the distance, completely lost in thought. Ginny had to wonder if Rowena hadn't been a bit shaken by the seeming history being repeated.

Glancing over at the professors who had been standing close by she was surprised that a good few of them looked more thoughtful than anything else. Helga took a breath.

' _Well, thoughtful is better than fearful, any day_ '. She reasoned, suddenly tired.

Regardless to how the exchange was taken, she knew there would still be consequences for all of them in the coming days.

"I am so sorry," Dumbledore said unexpectedly. Glancing over at him, Helga was surprised to find his normally twinkling eyes dim, "I don't know what happened with the wards, by you can be assured that I will be looking into it."

"Its alright, Headmaster." Helga replied quietly. "We understand that these things happen. I am just sorry that everyone had to see my brother and Sal fight like that. Now, if you don't mind, I think I am going to take Rowena and head back to our Chambers."

Touching the elder girl's arm to get her attention, Helga pushed Rowena back in the direction of the school. Even though it had not been _them_ that had been in the spotlight of that fight, Helga was more than ready to get out of the open.

 _~x~_

Salazar raced through the halls of Hogwart's with no actual destination in mind, only the thought that he had to _get away._ He was barely even aware of where his feet were taking him, that is, until he found himself in the dungeons.

Taking a shaky breath, the raven haired teen came to a halt, finally having felt that he had put enough distance between himself and everyone else. After a moment, he leaned heavily against one of the walls and slowly sank to his feet.

 _What had he done?_

He could still hardly believe that he had used _Olde Magick_ so instinctually. Once upon a time, that would not have surprised him in the least, but now? It had been so long since he had even attempted the magic, and not once had he ever used it as Harry.

Not once.

So why would he reflexively use it now? It just didn't make any sense to him. The only logical conclusion that the raven haired teen could come to was the fact that he had been caught up in the moment.

During that fight, he had been entirely _Salazar_. It was like he had never been reborn— like he had never even been Harry Potter. Actually, since coming here, he found that he often acted more like he once had than as the boy that he had been born as in this life.

Salazar chuckled humorlessly to himself. Didn't he sound insane? He was pretty sure that he, and his three friends were the only ones around who had to deal with multiple lifetimes in their heads. At least, he had never heard of such a reincarnation happening before.

Harry Potter always did had the worst luck.

With that thought, his mind turned back to his friends. In the back of his mind, he knew that Godric just needed some time to cool down and then things would go back to normal— well, _their_ normal. After all, this had most definitely _not_ been their first ever fight. Not by a long shot. But Salazar couldn't help but feel that something had actually shifted between them during this latest fight.

It had certainly been a step in the past, but at the same time, it _hadn't_.

Now that Salazar had had a moment to reflect on what had happened, he recognized that most of the initial anger and frustration that had started the fight had already been there. Him using Olde Magick had just given it a triggering point for it to all be released. He had known for a while now that his relationship with Ron was on shaky ground. Thus, what had happened was probably not so much about the fact that he used Olde Magick— his spell was probably just the final straw.

Harry honestly wasn't sure whether that realization scared or relieved him.

For Harry, this epiphany meant that perhaps, Godric would be more willing to look beyond his usage of Olde Magick— because Harry knew that now that he knew he was capable of it, there was no way that he was _not_ going to be using it again. Perhaps Ron would be more open to listening to him, and finally understanding Olde Magick for what it really was.

 _Magic_.

Harry didn't know what had become of Godric after Salazar himself had died, but he _did_ know Ron Weasley. And unlike Godric, Ron had been far more successful in letting go of some of his bias against modern 'dark magic', and the Slytherin house in general. It would have been impossible for him _not_ to, after all the four of them had seen and been through together.

It could possibly be just wishful thinking, but Harry couldn't help but have his hopes rise at the thought. He wouldn't know though until he finally confronted his friend, and Harry was certain that he wasn't quite ready for that.

He might have been able to reason out what had caused the fight, but that didn't mean that he was willing to let bygones be bygones quite yet. Oh no, Salazar was still quite incensed about the whole thing.

Besides, there was no way that Godric had already cooled his temper.

After a few moments of sitting in silence, and letting his own temper calm a bit, Harry began to hear students chattering as they made their way back to their dorms. It was then that he realized how close he was in proximity to the Slytherin dorms.

He couldn't stay here.

Not unless he wanted to deal with the Slytherins right now, anyways, and that was something that he _certainly_ was not up to doing. He was pretty sure he'd rather go another round with _Godric_ than face them.

Slowly pulling himself to his feet, Harry hesitated on where to go next. He really didn't want to return to the Chambers yet. He'd already decided he didn't want to have to face his friends quite this soon, after all.

That actually ruled out most of his hiding places. His friends unfortunately knew all of his hiding places within Hogwarts from both lives. He also knew that while Godric wouldn't sought him out this soon after a fight, Rowena or Helga certainly would if he avoided them too long. That was why historically, Salazar would just leave the school when he needed to get away after a fight. But that wasn't an option now. He knew for a number of reasons that he couldn't simply go missing in this weird reality. So where could he go? His options really were limited at the moment.

And then it suddenly hit him.

He knew of a place he could go where nobody would think to look for him. At least, his friends wouldn't. He knew that at least one person would eventually find him, but he was pretty sure that _that_ person would not judge him too harshly or try to get him to open up. He'd probably ask questions, but innocent questions was something that Salazar felt he could handle.

Mind made up, Harry quickly made his way deeper into the dungeons. When he finally came across the familiar portrait of the stern man, he did not hesitate to give the password.

"Prince."

And just as he expected, the lock immediately clicked open, and the portrait cracked slightly, letting him see the warm sitting room once again.

He was in.

Harry padded carefully into the room, letting the door swing shut behind him.

For a few moments, Harry just awkwardly stood near the entrance of the cozy sitting room. Now that he was here, he really didn't know what to do. He knew for a fact that Snape was still out, but that almost made him feel more awkward about invading the potions master's personal space.

Taking a deep breath, Harry finally urged himself forward and quickly moved to enter the private potions lab. He didn't really feel comfortable spending any more time in the man's sitting room, no matter how welcoming it appeared, and at least if he was in the potions lab, he could say he came for a reason. Stepping into the potions lab, Salazar breathed a sight of relief.

Just like he had expected, the little potions lab was quiet and calming. And empty. Salazar slowly walked around the perimeter of the potions lab, wondering what he could possibly do now.

He didn't really want to just sit idle— if he did, he knew his continued brooding would just stress him out— but at the same time, he also didn't really have any potions that he needed to work on. If he had his notes from his and Rowena's private study, then perhaps he could have worked on a potion to do with the ritual, but without them, there really wasn't anything that he could do. He knew better than to attempt to prepare an experimental potion without them; it was far to dangerous.

He didn't think that Snape would appreciate him blowing up his potions lab.

It was then that Salazar noticed a piece of paper sitting on the far counter. Curious, Salazar walked over to it and gently picked it up.

As Salazar studied the note, he felt a small smile grace his face. It appeared that Madam Pomfrey needed more potions to stock the hospital ward.

He was honestly a touch surprised. After all it had only been what? Like three weeks since the last time Severus had been enlisted to make potions for the school? He supposed Snape hadn't been kidding when he said that he restocked the potions reserves every month.

Salazar quickly glanced around the potions lab in search for any potions in progress.

In the far corner of the room, a single potion was sitting under a stasis charm. Curious, Salazar stepped over to it and peered inside. Furrowing his brow, he was only mildly surprised to find that instead of finding a potion from the note, he found what he believed to be about a half done Wolfsbane Potion.

"For Lupin." He muttered under his breath in sudden understanding. Harry then turned his attention back to the note. "Lets see… Calming Draught, Boil Cure and a double amount of Pepper-Up. I can do that."

~x~

If Severus was surprised to see Salazar in his private potions lab, he didn't show it.

The fourth founder had his back to him, but from his location at the doorway, Severus could see that he was busy working on a few potions. It also looked like the raven haired teen had come straight here after the duel, because he was still outfitted in his black dueling clothes.

It had been a couple hours since the duel, and nobody had seen the elusive fourth founder since his departure from the Quidditch Pitch. Granted, to Severus' knowledge, nobody was actually _looking._ Most of the Hogwart's staff— himself included— had simply assumed that the raven haired teen had just gone back into his Chambers and didn't give it another though. The man had rarely been seen anyways, as he and Rowena rarely ventured out of their Chambers.

Severus had actually been surprised to see the man at breakfast that morning. He had also been thrilled that the founder had come so early, and that he had been _alone_. With none of the other Heads of House there to challenge him, Severus had been able to watch the teen from a distance. Eventually, this had led to Salazar sitting down with Draco. Call him crazy, but Severus had been genuinely curious to see what would happen if those two were allowed to talk together without anyone standing over them. The fact that Salazar himself had approached the blond boy on his own made it even better.

In the end, he had been quite pleased with the outcome of his little experiment. Draco certainly seemed to be in higher spirits during his morning Potions class, anyways. Also the fact that the fourth founder seemed to like, or at the very least be interested in the livelihood of the Malfoy heir showed that he was not being negatively influenced by the other Slytherins.

Actually, over the last few weeks that he had gotten the chance to get to know the fourth founder, he had come to the conclusion that the boy— for that really was what he was— was most certainly not a bad person. In fact, he was pretty sure that if he hadn't been introduced as Salazar Slytherin, he would have seen him as no different from any one of his students. Even with the resulting fight, the duel had done nothing to change his opinions.

Speaking of the duel, after all of the chaos that had occurred out on the Quidditch Pitch, Severus had had the unfortunate luck of being pulled into an impromptu Order meeting. Albus had wanted to discuss the implications of what Godric seemed to think 'dark magic' was. Basically, the meeting had consisted of a lot of yelling and prejudice on both sides, as they tried to decide what to think of Salazar and what his threat level was. Severus honestly didn't understand the point of the discussion. After all, it wasn't like the founders could aid them in the war against Voldemort. Not if they wanted to keep the timeline intact anyway.

All the stupid meeting had been good for was giving him a headache.

When Salazar finally spotted him standing in the doorway, Severus could see the teen tense slightly before he once again became impossible to read.

"I hope you don't mind me being here." Salazar commented, his tone nonchalant, "I really wasn't in the mood to confront any of the others just yet."

Salazar paused for a moment with almost a touch of hesitation before continuing. "I saw your note. Thought I'd help you get these potions underway."

"Thank you," Severus murmured, finally stepping further into the room. "I appreciate the gesture. And if I didn't make myself clear during your first visit, you are welcome here any time you need to get away."

Salazar didn't respond, but he did dip his head in thanks.

The two worked in silence for a little while after that. Severus had taken over brewing the double amount of Pepper-Up potion, while Salazar continued to mind the other two requested potions.

"Can I ask you a question?" Severus asked tentatively, finally breaking the silence. He was hesitant to bring up any topics that he knew the teen was probably trying not to think about, but he was genuinely curious.

"Go ahead." Salazar murmured, not turning around from the cauldron he was standing over.

"Gryffindor called that last spell you used, 'Dark Magic', but it looked like nothing I have ever seen before, and definitely not what I would classify as 'Dark'."

"I'm pretty sure that was a statement, not a question." Salazar remarked with an amused tone that Severus was pretty sure was fake. The boy was speaking too stiffly for him to really be entertained. "I assure you, what is probably considered 'Dark Magic' today, and what was considered to be 'Dark Magic' in my time is likely not to be the same. After all, 'Dark' is just a label. Magic does not have a conscious, and as such, it cannot be innately evil or good. Rather, it is how we use magic that defines what sort of person we are."

"Today, 'Dark Magic' is typically classified as magic that is predominately used for harming, controlling or killing others." Severus supplied offhandedly. He didn't think that that nugget of information would cause any timeline problems.

Salazar snorted in return, "What you just described was called Assault Magic in my time. Godric and I both taught that to our students on a daily basis. It was considered a necessary life skill… I suppose that means that I can be considered a 'Dark Wizard' back then _and_ in this era."

"You are considered a Dark Wizard? I was under the impression that even back then, 'Dark' was not considered a good thing. That magic you used earlier didn't seem to be evil to me."

Salazar took a deep breath before answering, but never took his attention off the potions. In fact, Severus noted, the raven haired teen hadn't looked at him once since his initial arrival in the potions lab.

"I've been called a lot of names during my life, both good and bad. However, since I am capable of a form of Olde Magick, I am often hailed as 'Dark'.

"Olde Magick was often labeled as dark, or even _evil_ magic during my time, due to the unforgiving and unpredictable aspects of many parts of it." Salazar continued quietly. "It was what originally set Uther Pendragon on his crusade against magic, and what ultimately killed his son Arthur. After the death of the Once and Future King, Olde Magick started to see its decline. Honestly, most considered it a good thing. The fear that Uther had engrained in the minds of so many people meant that the magic gained a very negative outlook.

"About 100 years after Arthur's death, is when wand magic really began to flourish, and small magical communities began to spring up all over the British Isles. These communities were protected by lords, who protected their citizens and their way of life. In many ways, these communities were run more like small kingdoms, separate from the larger kingdoms that they were technically still a part of, and the lords who oversaw them were the sovereigns.

"Of course, this is not to say that wand magic didn't exist before these communities sprung up. It just wasn't very popular yet. Olde Magick was far more powerful than wand magic, but not as versatile and easy. Very few Olde Magick users were capable of a vast array of spells, and they tended to specialize. The only ones who were typically capable of using Olde Magick more naturally were the druids and high priestesses of the Old Religion. So wand magic began to grow in popularity, and magic communities became more common, and suddenly, Wand Magic was considered to be 'Light Magic' and Olde was labeled as dark.

"I'm not entirely sure how that happened to be honest. These beliefs were already quite widespread by the time I was born. Something that is lost to history, I suppose. Anyways, this is not to say that the nonmagical populations accepted the wand wielders. On the contrary, they did not distinguish one magic user from another. _They_ simply saw magic."

As he finished his explanation, Salazar fell quiet. During his entire speech, the young man still had not taken his attention off of the potions. It made Severus wonder if the boy had forgotten about his presence, and was simply reiterating his thoughts out loud.

Bringing himself out of his own thoughts, Severus couldn't help but ask another question. "Were you teaching your students what was considered dark magic at the time? This Olde Magick?"

Salazar didn't answer for a moment. Severus almost thought that the boy hadn't heard him before finally he spoke up, "I couldn't. Even if I wanted to, only a very select few back then could actually learn Olde Magick. It is what made me so special. We never had any students that I could teach the Olde Arts too."

"And would you have, if you did?"

"Most likely, yes." Salazar cut off with a self-depreciating laugh, finally glancing at Severus. To Severus, it was almost like the boy was challenging him; to see what he would do in response to that tidbit of information. Severus said nothing, merely held the boy's gaze.

After a moment, Salazar continued. "Of course, Godric and the others would have hated me for it, but I wouldn't be able to _not_ teach it. Not without a conscience, that is. Just like New Magic, if not more so the case, those who have innate Olde Magick, _need_ to learn how to control it. Otherwise, there is not telling what would happen."

"How do you mean?"

"Olde Magick is far wilder than New in many ways," Salazar began, pausing for a second to gather his thoughts, "For one, because it doesn't require a focus to wield— not to say that a focus can't be used, of course— an untrained sorcerer's magic often responds more to their emotional state than anything else. Sometimes it will work for you, but that is not always the case. Imagine waking up to a nightmare with your room on fire! Pretty soon many sorcerers began to fear _themselves_ due to their own magic working against them in emotional situations.

"Fear was a common emotion felt by Olde Magick users in my time. After all, in nonmagical communities, if found, magic users were often killed for their 'practicing the devil arts'. Magic is actually outlawed in many kingdoms, following in the ways of the famous King Uther Pendragon—yes, that was King Arthur's father. For an untrained sorcerer, fear just adds another level of unpredictability to their magic. Merlin once told me that he thinks that this was what initially drove the Lady Morgana to be the way she was. According to him, her magic developed while she was living as a ward of King Uther's and she was terrified. Another sorcerer, who was not the best person, offered her freedom, but the fear, betrayal and hatred that came from having the magic drove her off the edge of sanity.

"It was her, and others like her who used Olde Magick unjustly, or were simply driven mad due to it that gave Olde Magick the synonymous name with the Dark Arts by the practitioners of New Magic when they became more prevalent. New Magic users really never dealt with the same tribulations that those with Olde Magick dealt with."

"And did you ever deal with this 'fear' of yourself?"

Salazar shrugged. "Honestly? No. I grew up in nonmagical communities until Merlin found me, so I didn't even know that there _were_ different classificationsof magic. For me, magic was magic, and if found out, I would be put to death regardless of what type I happened to be gifted with. So, yes, I suppose that there _was_ some fear involved, but it was never really directed towards myself— which is where it really becomes dangerous— but more at certain situations I was in. I also understood that magic was my only real shot at surviving as a small abandoned child. So even as a kid with no resources to teach me, I worked and worked to train myself in controlling it to do my bidding. I wouldn't have survived as long on my own as I did otherwise."

Severus was quiet for a moment. He supposed what Salazar had said made sense. It also somewhat explained Godric's reaction to the magic. At the same time, Severus couldn't help but wonder if they were right to hate the magic. Was it Salazar's Olde Magick that eventually turned him evil. Could it have eventually taken the boy's sanity?

Salazar had mentioned fear, betrayal and hatred. He might not have felt those emotions as a child, but certainly he did now. He wouldn't have run from the fight if it hadn't upset him to some level at least. It was definitely an interesting concept, one he would certainly be sharing with Albus later.

"That all just sounds like prejudice to me." Severus commented finally, his voice no louder than Salazar's had ever been.

Salazar snorted slightly, "Yes. I suppose it is. Unfortunately, that seems to be an ingrained part of human nature— something I doubt we will ever truly overcome."

Severus hummed in agreement and the two went back to silently working on their potions.

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* * *

 **AN:** Please don't forget to Review!

Till next time!

~Dawn


	11. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Merlin, nor anything else recognizable. No profit is coming from this. I am merely playing in the sandboxes of those far more famous than myself.**

Unbetaed.

Without further ado, I present to you…

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 **What Went Wrong?**

~x~

 **Ch 10:** _Visitors and a Letter_

 _~x~_

When Salazar finally returned to the Chambers, it was already far after sunset and he was exhausted. He had spent his entire afternoon and evening—not even pausing for dinner— in the potions lab with Severus. He would never admit it out loud, but in this reality, he found himself actually _liking_ the Potions Master.

Stifling a yawn, he entered into the Main Hall of the Chambers and silently walked towards door that guarded his own quarters.

"Harry."

Salazar froze, his eyes darting around the poorly lit room as he searched for the source of the feminine voice he had heard. Finally he found her, sitting with her back to him. She was seated on one of the mahogany wood chairs with her legs curled up under her. Dim light from the lamps above glinted off her hair, setting it aflame with color. He could also see the corners of his green cloak folded gently over her lap and his second knife glinting on top of it. He had forgotten he had even thrown it in all the chaos.

"Helga." he responded finally, just as blunt.

He had been hoping to be able to sneak back in. To not have to actually deal with any of his friends until morning. He had hoped that by then, all four of them would have had time to think over everything.

He had been certain that he had returned late enough, too!

Alas, it looked like he was going to be doing this now.

With a slightly dramatic sigh, he changed course and— giving his quarter's door one last longing look— padded over to where Helga was seated. He slid into the seat across from her.

"Do we really have to do this now?" He questioned rhetorically, "because incase you hadn't noticed, Iactually _had_ been trying to avoid you three."

"Harry, stop."

Salazar furrowed his brows, perplexed. After waiting a moment to see if she would continue, Salazar spoke again. "Pardon? Stop _what_ exactly? Olde Magick? because I can assure you that I won't. It is as much a part of me as New Magic is. I can't—"

"That's not what I meant." Helga cut in after a moment. They sat in silence then, while Helga seemed to gather her thoughts and Salazar waited patiently for her to continue. "I meant that you need to stop putting up walls. Keeping us out. Stop _hiding_."

Salazar narrowed his eyes. "I'm not _hiding_. If this is about me leaving the Quidditch Pitch after the fight, then you should know me well enough to know that I needed to get away before I _truly_ lost my temper. I was angry, and frustrated _,_ and a whole spew of other emotions. I was _not_ being a coward."

"I know." Helga sighed, "and I wasn't referring to that. I was referring to you in general. Ever since coming here, hell, ever since you began to remember you have been closing yourself off.

"Now, I don't know if I can exactly blame the added memories, because I seem to remember that even as ' _Just_ _Harry,_ ' you were always trying to protect others by concealing your pain. Luckily though, you were always a horrid lier then, and we could see through your walls and snap you out of it. Now, it is something you excel at, I am only thankful that I happen to know you well enough to see the signs. This needs to stop. I am tired of watching you self-destruct—"

"I am not _self-destructing!_ " Salazar interrupted indignantly.

"Salazar, _please._ " Helga pleaded. "Please just _talk_ to me. I lost you last time because you refused to open up. I understand if you are not ready to hash it out with Godric, but surely you can talk to _me_. I cannot stand on the sidelines and lose you again."

Salazar remained stubbornly silent and Helga took a shaky breath before continuing.

"I was the last one to die, you know. All three of you left me. Godric died from an infected wound almost two decades after your disappearance, and Rowena fell into a pretty deep depression after Helena died a few years later. She never recovered from it, and it was like she just faded away…

"Guimond and Daina stayed around for a little while after that to keep me company, but both our children were wanderers at heart. Daina eventually left to follow my roots and returned to Scandinavia. I don't believe she ever settled down or married, but I have no way of truly knowing. I tried searching for old records, but never had any luck. Vikings never were the best record keepers. As for Guimond, he stayed more local. But he also never had any interest in the school. He always looked up to you though. Hated the nonmagical folk just like you did too."

"I never _hated_ the nonmagicals." Salazar grumbled, "I just held extreme dislike for their close-mindedness and sheeplike tendencies."

"Well, you never did have the best experiences with them did you," Helga huffed a laugh, "I suppose you didn't have any better luck in this lifetime either really."

"No. No I did not." Salazar agreed. "Although I suppose I do view muggles in a better light nowadays. The nonmagical societies have _vastly_ improved overall. The Dursleys were an unfortunate exception to the new norm. Actually, it is regrettably the wizards who I now hold dislike for. It is _pathetic_ how backwards our kind has become."

Helga hummed in agreement.

They were quiet for a long moment before Salazar finally opened his mouth again. He truly didn't want to shut Helga out— and he did know himself well enough to recognize what he was doing, not that he would admit it aloud— but it was in his nature. He had never been an open person, and he doubted he ever would.

"I _hate_ it here." He finally admitted. "I hate the judgement. I hate the lack of control I seem to have over my life. I hate not being able to be myself. I hate not knowing who ' _myself'_ is… Further, I hate the tension between the four of us. I just want to go _home_!"

Helga nodded thoughtfully, and gracefully stood and padded closer to him. She held out his cloak and knife, almost like a peace offering. He took them tentatively before securing the second knife in its holster on his back. The cloak he left folded on his lap, letting his hands run over the smooth shimmery fabric in soft circles.

"Well," Helga finally said, "with any luck, we will be able to return to the correct timeline soon."

Salazar snorted humorlessly. "Yeah. Then I can look forward to all the judgement and hatred all over again. Joy. At least here a few people are beginning to realize that I am not _completely_ evil."

Helga didn't look like she knew what to say, and Salazar was barely able to repress rolling his eyes. After a moment he couldn't help continuing.

"And it doesn't help that Rowena and I can't seem to figure out what exactly we did wrong. It just doesn't make any sense! It should have _worked!_ Nothing was wrong with our formulas! We should have never come here!"

"I'm sorry." she said finally. She crouched in front of him so that their eyes were level. He could see the barely controlled emotions swimming in her crystal blue eyes. He placed his hands on top of hers gently.

"I hardly blame you." he huffed, "It's not your fault we are here _or_ that my reputation is in tatters, it's mine… I know I was never a very _good_ man— especially not next to Godric and his noble arse, but surely I was never a complete _monster_. Not like how they paint me today."

"You were never a monster, Sal," Helga murmured, her tone tinged with sadness. "You certainly made your share of bad decisions, but then, we all did. That's life. I think your bad reputation has more to do with how elusive and cold you became after Ryons death. Granted, you were never exactly a warm and cuddly person to begin with… And the fights and the Olde Magick certainly didn't help your image either. Back then, we also hadn't realized you had been killed. To us, it appeared that you had just decided to take your anger out on the muggle populations and then run off who knows where."

"And I _do_ feel partially responsible for how poorly you are perceived today," she continued. "Perhaps I didn't ever add any additional fuel to the rumors that were popping up, but I _also_ never stood up for you. I was too distraught in my own misery to be of much use to anyone. Being pregnant and widowed tends to do that."

"Helga. Again, compared to me leaving you, your inaction was nothing. I'm the one who should be apologizing. It's my fault that I died; nobody else's."

They were quiet for a moment before Salazar spoke again. "Since I really don't want to repeat what happened our first night in this reality, I think I am going to retire if you don't have any objections."

Helga nodded, and stepped away from him, allowing him room to stand up.

Salazar stood. However, instead of moving away, he stepped towards her. Closing the distance between them, Salazar gently touched his lips against her forehead. Murmuring a quiet "Good night," he stepped away and then proceeded to walk back in the direction of his suite.

~x~

There was a note sitting on his bed.

He had been fully intent to finally change out of his dueling clothes and then collapse onto his bed and let himself succumb to sleep before he saw it. Now he found himself annoyingly wide awake.

With slightly narrowed eyes, Harry draped his cloak over a chair before he then approached his bed cautiously. Nobody should have been sending him any notes. Of the quartet, the only one who was ever known for sending him letters was Helga, and he had just spoken with her. He also couldn't think of why any of the inhabitants of Hogwarts would send him a note, let along be able to get it into his personal quarters. Sure, owls could get in and out, but he didn't think that they would use those when he lived under the same roof as them. And nobody outside of the castle should even know that they were here, let alone be writing to him.

He started to reach for his wand, before changing his mind and raised his empty hand instead.

" _Obrinde, come mee._ " he intoned, his eyes flashing gold.

In response to his spell, the letter fluttered slightly, before picking up off the bed as if a gentle breeze had lifted it. Slowly, it floated over to him, coming to a halt right in front of him.

" _Fulfieldee_."

Carefully, the letter began to unravel itself. Salazar took a step closer in order to read it. He still refused to touch it, just in case it was a Portkey or something.

 _Lord Slytherin,_

 _First, I would like to say that it is an honor to be able to write to you._

 _Now, I was informed by a spy of mine that you are not interested in actively helping me bring this present time into a new era. I respect you too much to hold a grudge against you for such an understandable perspective. You returning to, and preserving the past is quite consequential for all of our sakes. Please note that I do understand your stance completely. However, I felt it was still necessary for me to offer my condolences. What happened to you earlier today was an exact example of the hypocrisy that I am trying to thwart. I hope that one day, I shall be able to rid our beloved world of such prejudices, even if you will probably no longer be here to see it._

 _In the mean time, feel free to contact me anytime you need someone to vent to. I assure you, I will be here for you and would never dare judge. Further, should you find yourself needing someone for additional ideas on how to return to your time, please know that I am only an owl away and am more than willing to help you in any way I possibly can._

 _Your faithful Heir,_

 _Lord Voldemort_

Harry felt his stomach flop uncomfortably as his eyes quickly scanned the letter. Voldemort was contacting him directly? And on the same day as the fight? Furrowing his brows, Salazar sent the letter to his dresser with a careless flick of his hand and began to pace.

He knew this couldn't be a coincidence.

Granted, he was sure that Riddle wouldn't miss any opportunity to vie for his support, but this letter seemed to have been planned out in advance— its wording too careful to be quickly thrown together. There was no way that Voldemort would have had time to write it out and send it by owl given only the few hours that had passed since the duel.

Did that mean that Voldemort had had prior knowledge of what was going to happen?

Salazar's thoughts immediately turned to the wards falling.

' _No way could he have guaranteed that outcome_ ', he tried to reason. Salazar could be quite manipulative of situations, even if that was something that he had not really made use of as Harry. Actually, as Harry, he had always been far too open to ever be able to trick anyone. Nevertheless, once upon a time he had been well known for being able to finagle certain outcomes through unconventional measures.

But even he would not bet his luck on such a dubious move.

There were simply too many variables. And even if he _had_ orchestrated the wards falling, it must have been one of the students to actually do the deed. Voldemort himself, or any of his adult allies would never be allowed on Hogwarts ground without a very good reason. Harry was sure that the Dumbledore of this world would never allow it.

And what if that student had been caught? What then? Harry was certain that the student would have been expelled, or at the very least, suspended. He could still be, if Dumbledore managed to figure out why they failed.

Likewise, if Harry knew anything about Voldemort's followers, it was that the mass majority came from old families. Having a pureblooded kid be kicked out of school for nearly getting another student purposely killed would not have looked good for them. Especially with how politically attuned this Tom Riddle seemed to be.

And speaking of almost being killed, what would have happened if that spell _had_ hit one of the students? _He_ knew that the spell limitations that he and Godric had placed on themselves meant that the student probably wouldn't have been fatally injured.

 _Probably_.

But that was not something that had been commonly known. Only the Headmaster, Heads of House and the other founders— and probably the Order, actually— had known they were purposely holding back. Thus, there was no way that Voldemort could have known that they wouldn't be using deadly spells… but surely Voldemort wouldn't think that a student _dying_ , or at least being grievously injured would cause the others to completely revolt against him.

Unless…

It had been _his_ spell that had first slipped through the wards. Salazar realized this with sudden clarity and his body suddenly froze in place, ending his continuous pacing.

Granted, his spell had not hit a student, but it _could_ have. And what then? Salazar was certain that the other founders would not have blamed him for it. After all, it wasn't _his_ fault that the wards fell.

"But Voldemort doesn't know that does he?" Salazar mused to himself aloud, "All he knows is that I did not have the best relationship with the others. And that I was considered to be dark…"

Was it possible that Voldemort thought that it would be so easy to turn the others against him? Did he think that perhaps the others would jump to the conclusion that he himself had purposely disrupted the wards so that he might harm a student.

It was still a bit of a stretch, but the idea had some merit. Salazar sighed and rubbed his hands on his face tiredly.

Perhaps he was just overthinking this entire thing.

Maybe Voldemort was simply waiting for a promising opportunity to reach out to him. Whatever the story behind the letter was, Salazar was sure of one thing.

Voldemort was not going to just leave him be.

It had been his first intention to just keep all this to himself, and not tell anyone else about the letter. Now however he was starting to think that that might not be such a good idea. If Voldemort really was going to be actively trying to split the quartet up, the others had the right to know.

He had to alert the others. Starting to move towards his door, Harry glanced at his clock.

 _1:43_

Well, maybe he would wait till morning.

~x~

Dawn came and Salazar found himself ushered to the Great Hall for breakfast by Rowena. She spent most of the walk trying to get him to talk about yesterday afternoon, but Salazar's thoughts were elsewhere.

He still hadn't even seen Godric since the fight.

He also hadn't told any of the others about the letter. He knew he needed to breach the subject, and soon— he didn't know if or when Voldemort would try to frame him again, _if_ he really framed him, that is— but he hadn't been able to bring himself to breach the topic yet.

Despite how ready he had been last night to alert the others, now that it was morning, he found himself once again hesitant. Bringing up such a topic would be hard, especially with him and Godric still on bad terms. Finally, he decided that he'd wait until Godric decided to approach him. No matter what the outcome of that particular conversation was, he would _then_ force himself to tell them.

Once they reached the Great Hall, Salazar split off from Rowena and went to join Snape and Remus at his usual spot at the High Table.

Upon sitting down, Salazar gave the two older men polite nods before taking his seat. He immediately began dishing up his plate with his breakfast.

' _Remus looks nervous,_ ' he noted, with a touch of confusion. He could see no reason for the man to be worried about anything. He inconspicuously glanced around the Great Hall. None of the other professors or students seemed to share similar feelings of anxiety.

' _Is it me?_ ' Salazar couldn't help but wonder, ' _Surely yesterday didn't make him think_ that _poorly of me._ '

Tilting his head in curiosity, Salazar had just opened his mouth to question him aloud when the main doors of the Great Hall burst open and loud voices entered.

Two men entered the Great Hall. Both of which made Salazar's insides freeze.

 _Sirius_.

Indeed, the man on the right was most certainly his godfather. Except, Salazar was pretty sure he had never seen Sirius this normal and _clean_ looking.

Dressed in finely made clothes with his hair neatly styled and cleaned, he looked every bit the part of the current Lord of House Black. His body was also far more healthy looking, complete with a natural tan and everything. What really made him look different was his eyes, however. Glinting with just a touch of childlike mischief, the man seemed far more happy than Harry had ever imagined Sirius could be.

This was a Sirius who had never been to Azkaban, Salazar realized with sudden clarity. He actually reminded Harry of the Sirius that he had seen in old photographs. Even looking a little older, this Sirius had more in common with those old photographs than he did with _his_ godfather.

Despite all this, it was the other man that really threw Salazar for a loop.

Walking next to Sirius, the man held himself proud. With black hair and a lean figure, Salazar almost thought that this man was his twin finally making an appearance. That is, until he saw the mans eyes.

 _Hazel_.

Not only that, this man's eyes actually reminded him more of what Sirius' had looked like in his world. Full of loss and sadness. The pain was partly obscured by a similar playfulness that the Sirius of this world displayed. Nevertheless, the pain was still there, lurking in the depths.

This man was his father.

It made his stomach flop uncomfortably, and he struggled to keep his breathing rate regular. It was all he could do to keep the majority of his emotions from appearing plainly on his face. He supposed it made sense that the man would be here— this _was_ an alternate reality, after all— but he had never really considered the possibility of his parents actually being alive.

Both men gave him thinly veiled glares as the made their way towards the headmaster, and Salazar forced himself to stare straight back, his face a cold mask to the outside world. When they looked away, he dropped his gaze.

Salazar forced his eyes to focus on his folded hands and tried his best to turn his attention away from them. ' _Huh. My hands are shaking_.' he noted offhandedly.

"You okay?" He heard Severus whisper from his left.

Salazar didn't answer, instead focusing his efforts on subduing the slight panic attack he was experiencing. He didn't even know _why_ this was shaking him so much.

He never even _knew_ the man! Besides, it was not like the man would recognize him, nor did he need to worry about whether he had the man's approval— actually, Harry was _certain_ that the man despised him— if the glare hadn't made that already apparent. That was a guarantee with him masquerading around as Salazar Slytherin. He also didn't intend to remain in this reality much longer… Soon, he was sure that the man's existence would be but a vague memory in the back of his mind.

Except, Salazar knew that that was a lie.

He was never going to be able to push this moment from his mind's eye.

The raven haired teen had never had a chance to know his father in either of his lifetimes. He supposed that that was part of why it was so groundbreaking to see the man who had sired him with his own eyes. _Alive._

In the back of his mind, he could just make out the hushed conversation that the two men were having with the headmaster.

"You let him eat in the Great Hall?! I thought you said you were keeping him _under guard!_ " his father was saying in a hushed tone. Although to Salazar, the man might as well have been yelling. "And anyways, you can't just spring all that on us like you did and then _leave_ , expecting us to just be okay with it! Not when my goddaughter's _life_ is at stake!"

"I assure you Mr. Potter, I have everything under control. I had not meant to alarm you last night when I disclosed their arrival to our time."

"Alarm us? Seriously?!" Sirius butted in sounding just as angry as James, "Like James just pointed out, that's my _daughter_ sitting over there! I know you already clued in everyone else. So why did you _deliberately_ decide to keep us out of the loop? Afraid we'd overreact? Newsflash! My daughter is in _Slytherin_!"

"I am aware— _"_

James didn't give Dumbledore a chance to continue. _"_ Regardless of us accepting that Tauri is a Slytherin, I do not feel comfortable with her being in the same room as a known _criminal,_ let alone giving him any control over her due to being affiliated with his _house_! _"_

He couldn't take this anymore. Taking a steadying breath, Salazar stood up. Instantly the not so quiet conversation hushed and he could feel all their eyes on him. Keeping his eyes focused directly in front of him and his stance tall and proud, Salazar slipped from the room.

Unlike yesterday afternoon, when Salazar had simply let his feet lead him, this time, he knew exactly where he was going. He was also vaguely aware of the person that was trailing him at a distance, but he paid them no mind. If they were willing to keep up with him at the fast pace that he was setting, so be it.

As soon as he had stepped through the main doors of Hogwarts, however, he did slow down slightly. In the back of his mind, he couldn't help noticing how the weather seemed to have taking a turn for the worse once more. Gone was the sun and in its place angry clouds glared down from the heavens. It wouldn't be long before it started to rain again.

Pretty soon, Salazar reached the point on the road towards Hogsmeade where he could feel Hogwart's wards end and he came to a sudden halt. Where he stood, his toes were just brushing the line of invisible wards.

Slowly, he brought his hands up directly in front of his face and studied them. They were still slightly shaking. Taking a deep breath, he clenched them and let them fall lifelessly to his sides.

"What do you want, Godric?" He asked without looking away from the direction he knew Hogsmeade to be. "Because I am _really_ not in the mood to argue with you right now."

Godric didn't say anything, he simply came to a halt next to Salazar. After a moment, Salazar flicked his eyes over towards the redhead, only to find his friends eyes similarly focused on the horizon. With a sigh, he turned his own gaze back in front of him.

"I'm sorry, _"_ Godric murmured after a long moment. "I was just lost in the moment, you know? I mean, the duel and our banter— it was just like old times! And then your Olde Magick, well, I just—"

Godric broke off with a frustrated sigh. "I'm sorry." he repeated.

"Rowena force you to say that?" Salazar couldn't help but ask bitterly.

Godric let out a huff of false laughter, "Helga, actually. But she only made me see sense. Things are so much different now, _we_ are different, Harry. And you've been my best friend in both lifetimes now, the least I can do is cut you some slack every now and then… I still hate Olde Magick, Harry. It honestly scares me, but I know that you don't feel the same way as I do…"

"Why?" Salazar asked finally, "Why is Olde Magick so bad?"

Godric looked dumbfounded, "You know why! It's chaotic, its dangerous! It's-It's not safe!"

"Merlin taught me how to use that magic. Is it unsafe for _Merlin_?" Salazar retorted.

"Of course not! But that is different. Merlin is a special case!"

"And as your friend, I am not?"

"Ugh! No! It is _because_ you are my friend that I never wanted you to use that magic! I don't want it to destroy you, or anyone else! Merlin in practically magic incarnate, so it cannot harm him like it could harm you!"

"But that is just it! Olde Magick cannot harm me anymore than New can! It is simply a different way of channeling it. It has always been external pressures that have made Olde Magick so dangerous. While I agree that there are some aspects of Olde Magick that are pretty unstable and risky, I have never practiced those types. And even there, the worse that Olde Magick can do to me as the wielder is use up too much of my core, and cause me to squib out… but I was trained how to safely used it for _seven years!_ Honestly, to me, it feels more natural than wand magic. So sure it's dangerous if it is used incorrectly, but having to force my magic into a wand is far more straining on my core than simply using Olde Magick."

"Show me." Godric challenged suddenly, finally turning his body away from the wards to face Salazar directly.

"…Pardon?"

"Do a spell!" Godric elaborated, twirling his hand as if he was trying to act out the magic.

Salazar gave Godric a slightly disbelieving look before finally deciding to comply. Turning so that he too was facing his companion, he held his right hand between them, he uttered a single word under his breath, " _Leoht._ "

Godric narrowed his eyes as he studied the ball of light that had formed and was innocently hovering over Salazar's outstretched palm. After a moment, he took out his own wand.

" _Lumos._ "

Instantly, the wand's tip began to glow with a similar ball of light.

"See?" Salazar murmured quietly, "They aren't so different after all."

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* * *

 **AN:** Please don't forget to Review!

My updates might slow down a little bit during the next week or two. Might. I have some tests coming up that I really need to focus my time on. (In a perfect world, I would stop writing this until the tests were completely over, but I'm too much of a procrastinator to actually do that.) Nevertheless, I really can't guarantee when the next chapter will actually be out.

Spells:

 _Obrinde, come mee-_ Bring, come to me. Actual spell from _Merlin_. Used to enchant an object to float to you.

 _Fulfieldee-_ I unfold; uncoil; unroll, etc. Old English. I used a translator for this spell.

 _Leoht_ \- Light spell from _Merlin_

 _Lumos_ \- Light spell from _Harry Potter_

Till next time!

~Dawn


	12. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Merlin, nor anything else recognizable. No profit is coming from this. I am merely playing in the sandboxes of those far more famous than myself.**

Unbetaed.

Yeah, okay. I lied… With the tests coming up next week, I have spent even _more_ time writing as a form of procrastination… heh. I've already finished a large portion of chapter 12 too.

Without further ado, I present to you…

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 **What Went Wrong?**

~x~

 **Ch 11:** _Atonement_

 _~x~_

After casting the light spells, the two teens had stood in companionable silence, both lost in their own thoughts. Both had also turned back away from each other in order to look out at the horizon once more.

There was a sense of calmness in the air around them that hadn't been present previously.

Salazar was still astounded that his friend might finally be willing to look past prejudices. He loved the man like a brother, but it had always frustrated him to no end how pigheaded Godric could be when it came to certain subjects. He had nearly resigned himself, thinking that true acceptance was never an actual possibility.

But now..?

Salazar was beginning to have hope that things really _would_ be different in this lifetime. Still, Salazar was a bit of a pessimist— and who could really blame him?— so he couldn't allow himself to trust that things had absolutely changed for the better. Yet.

"So your dad…" Ron commented out of the blue, forcing Salazar's thought process to change topics.

Oh.

 _Right_.

His _father_. He had almost been able to forget about why he was standing on the edge of the wards in the first place. He wasn't quite sure if this was a topic he was comfortable discussing aloud yet.

"My father." Harry agreed finally, taking a deep breath.

"What do you think it means?"

"I don't know." Harry sighed. "I didn't even think that this was a possibility, alternate reality or not. Now it seems silly that we didn't see it as a possible scenario."

"Do you think your mother is alive here too?"

Harry shrugged, trying to keep his tone indifferent. "She could be. But it's not like it matters, we aren't going to be staying long."

Ron looked dumbfounded. "But don't you want to meet them? I mean, this has got to be a once in a life time opportunity!"

Harry wrapped his arms around his stomach in a rare sign of anxiety. "I-I don't know… I mean, I'm already all grown up. It's not like I _need_ them anymore. They certainly weren't there when I did— not that I can really blame them for that though… Besides, I'm not _their_ son—I mean, do they even have a son? are they even married here?— and even if I was their son, its not like I can just tell them who I am. We can't let out identities be known. Remember? And I highly doubt they would wish to get to know _Salazar Slytherin._ "

"Salazar, I'm really starting to think that our doubles don't actually exist, at this point." Godric looked pained. "Whatever madness has occurred in this world, I think it is safe to say that our doubles are either all dead or never existed from the get go, otherwise, I think we would have seen or heard from at least one of them by now. But regardless of whether they had a son or not, I think your parents would still want the chance to meet you."

Salazar merely hummed uncommitedly in response, and the topic was thankfully dropped.

"Speaking of leaving though," Godric continued after a moment, "are you guys getting any closer to getting us back to our reality? Rona wasn't really giving me any straight answers. At least, any straight answers I could understand."

Salazar snorted before shaking his head. "No. Unfortunately not."

Godric remained silent, expecting Salazar to continue, and after a few seconds, he did. "We have recreated all of our notes, and everything looks right. Regrettably, we can't seem to find any errors that could have pulled us here. It's so _frustrating!_ "

"Eh, you two will figure it out." Godric replied, sounding unworried, "You always do."

"I guess…" Salazar said, a bit thrown off guard by Godric's seeming level of trust.

"It might be smart if you take breaks and don't spend all your time obsessing in the study though," Godric continued offhandedly. "Didn't someone once say that that studying too much actually has a reverse impact on information intake?"

"Well, I am not studying now." Salazar pointed out.

"Yeah… Because you are too busy stressing out due to other reasons. I'm pretty sure that _that_ doesn't count."

Salazar ducked his head to hid his grin. "Probably accurate."

"So do you want to do something then..?" Godric asked hesitantly, "I mean, this is a great view and all, but…"

"Sure." Salazar still looked amused. "What exactly did you have in mind..? Oh! I almost completely forgot!"

"What? Is something wrong?"

"No? At least, nothing we can't deal with." The raven haired teen took a deep breath before continuing, his voice becoming quieter, "I got a letter last night from Riddle."

Godric's eyes widened, full of disbelief, "You— _what_?!"

"I know." Salazar responded, "I could hardly believe it myself. It was just a bunch of pretty words, really. He is still trying to secure my aid or at the very least my sympathies, I think— which is _obviously_ never going to happen. Anyways, the point is, he was trying to fuel the wedge between us— well, between _me_ and the rest of you lot, that is."

"That slimy, no good—"

"Careful."

Godric shot him an apologetic grin, "Sorry, old habits die hard— or is that new habits? New _old_ habits..?"

" _Anyways_ ," Salazar drawled, a small grin appearing on his face, "the _point_ is, is that I think it is very likely he had something to do with the wards falling yesterday."

Godric hummed. "You think so? That sounds kinda risky… I was under the impression that the Riddle here was more of a chess player than a loose cannon. Disrupting the wards sounds more like something _our_ Riddle would try to do."

Salazar shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know… but regardless, I think it would be wise for us to remain on our toes. We will need to let the girls know too. Whether he actually had something to do with the wards or not is probably irrelevant. What is relevant is that he is actively trying to break us apart, and I'd really not like for anyone to accidentally get caught in the crossfire. Yesterday was far too close for my tastes."

"Mine too." Godric agreed. "Once I'd calmed down, it sort of clicked how bad that could have turned out. I'm sorry again for yesterday. I know that you probably don't believe me yet, but I really will try to be more accepting of your Olde Magick. It might take some time before I am truly comfortable around it though. I can't just ignore decades of being conditioned to think a certain way."

"I know." Salazar murmured. "And thanks, that really does mean the world to me."

"Right then! Back to what's actually important… Want to go swimming?"

Slightly thrown by the abrupt change in topics, Salazar took a moment to respond. When he did, his eyes shone with disbelief, "Swimming _._ You actually want to go for a _swim_ , in the middle of _October_ no less?"

Godric merely grinned and clapped a strong hand on his companions back. "Of course! Now is the perfect time for a quick dip! Are we wizards or not? A quick heating charm is _elementary_. Don't you want to say hello to the Squid?"

"Not particularly, no." Salazar responded instantly. He really couldn't tell if his friend was jesting or actually being serious. "Last I checked, the Squid and myself were not on the best of terms. I don't think the mermaids really like me all that much either."

"Oh come _on_! It will be fun!"

"You are actually serious." Salazar realized, with mounting dread, "No. Absolutely not. No bloody _way_! I am _not_ going to go _swimming_!"

Godric simply fixed him with one of his trademark grins.

~x~

That night, dinner was a quiet affair.

Salazar hadn't said a single word to either Severus or Remus after an initial greeting and they hadn't spoken in return. He could feel their eyes on him however, he was certain that they were silently curious about where he had been all day. Regardless, he refused to look up at either of them. Instead, he kept his attention on his dinner, forcing himself to force down the Shepherd's pie that he had dished up onto his plate.

He knew that they had overheard the conversation at breakfast, just as he had.

He hadn't even entered the school since he had stormed out during breakfast that morning. Instead, he had spent the day with Godric. His best friend had made it his unspoken duty to distract Harry from the subject of his _not_ dead parents after realizing how much it had upset him.

Unfortunately, despite all his protests, Salazar actually _had_ gone swimming in the end. Well, actually, Godric had pushed him in the lake. Nevertheless, the end result was that he had, in fact gotten soaked in the freezing water. When Godric had offered his hand to pull him back out, Salazar had gotten his revenge against the red head. Taking his hand, Salazar instead pulled his best mate into the freezing water as well. Naturally, that had ended in a splash war, ensuring that if they weren't completely soaked before, they were now.

Both of them had swam shivering towards the lakes edge, cold, but laughing too hard to truly care. Salazar had never been so thankful for the existence of warming and drying charms in his life.

After that, Salazar and Godric had bantered a bit, merely enjoying the sensation of being warm again. It wasn't long however, before they were approached by several students wishing to be taught how to duel. They were a bit weary of him at first, but Godric's continued teasing and relaxed attitude meant that they warmed up to Salazar pretty quickly. Pretty soon it was like they had gone back to teaching classes. More and more students joined in too, as the day went on.

Salazar was actually surprised that so many were opted to take part in the additional lesson— it was Sunday, after all. One would think that students wouldn't actively be signing up for additional classes, especially on their days off. He was then reminded of the war, and abruptly, their determination to learn any sort of survival skills made perfect sense. All of a sudden, Salazar was even more determined to help these students learn.

He was pretty sure that Godric had come to the same realization as him too, if the sudden lack of his teasing was anything to go by.

Unexpectedly, Salazar was brought back to the present due to the sound of a chair scraping the floor as it was noisily pushed back. Glancing over to his left, Salazar was surprised to see Godric standing up, looking like he was getting ready to address the Great Hall. Even the students looked curious as to what was going on.

"Good evening everyone. I hope you don't mind me interrupting your dinner for a few minutes." He started, his voice benevolent, "The thing is, I'd like to apologize for my behavior yesterday. It was completely unfair. You see, the magic that Salazar used was something that I was raised to despise. It is extremely hard for me to not react, even when I _know_ that my friend has not actually done anything to warrant my anger… The magic that Salazar is capable of is special. It is dangerous, yes, but Salazar has had enough training that if I am to believe that _anyone_ can use it safely, I have to believe that it is him."

Salazar could hardly believe what he was hearing. He was also certain that there was no way that even _he_ was capable of keeping all his emotions behind his carefully constructed mask. At least some of his bewilderment— if not how completely touched he felt by his friend's speech— was at least partly seen by those surrounding him. Especially when he was aware that figures such as Dumbledore and Snape were already scrutinizing him for a reaction.

But it's not like he could help it. It was one thing to hear Godric tell him those words in private, but another thing entirely for him to voice said promises in front of an audience. Like himself, he knew that Godric had vast amounts of pride and ego; admitting that he was wrong was not something that either of them did on a mere whim.

As he finished speaking, Godric turned his face towards where Salazar was sitting. He quirked an eyebrow at him and Salazar could practically see the words that the man wasn't saying aloud. 'See? I'm trying.'

Salazar let a small smile grace his face as he shook his head slightly in amusement in response. Godric grinned in turn and returned his attention towards the Great Hall once again.

"Also, as I am sure many of you are aware, Sal and I taught a rather impromptu dueling tutorial this afternoon out by the Black Lake. Due to how well it went, and how much you lot seemed to enjoy it, we have decided that until the time we leave, the two of us would be more than willing to teach similar lessons every Sunday. Anyone who wants to take part is more than welcome to come and join in."

"Hey! Why didn't you invite me?" Helga complained from further down the table.

Salazar grinned, and couldn't help speaking up. "Since when do you need an invitation?"

"Sorry sister," Godric responded, "Like I said, today was rather spontaneous. You are more than welcome to join in next week though."

"Oh you can be certain that I will." Helga promised.

~x~

That evening, the quartet had returned to their Chambers as a single unit once more, and instead of going off their separate ways, they had instead convened in the sitting area of the Main Hall.

There, they had talked about many things, including the letter Salazar had received a day prior. The girls had reacted much the same way as Godric had earlier, and for Salazar, it felt like the raven haired teen had removed a weight that he hadn't even been aware that he had been carrying.

They had also discussed their original lives in far greater depth than they ever had before. It was a necessity, they had all concluded silently, if they wanted to prevent events such as yesterday from occurring again.

And it had been long overdue.

Since they were no longer fighting a war— at least not _here,_ they weren't— Salazar finally allowed himself to be sucked into what he dubbed, the confession party.

He had told them all about his childhood— what it was like for him, growing up with virtually nothing to his name— in far greater detail than he had ever given before, and about his years with Merlin, who had been responsible for bringing Salazar into the lives of the other three during their travels. He had also talked about his wrong doings, and all that he wished he had done differently.

He didn't think that they had ever even realized that he had given _himself_ the surname 'Slytherin', let alone that he had only wanted a surname in the first place so that he might be more like _them. They_ had all been born with one, seeing as they all had come from noble births, or at least, partly in Helga's case. He had been so desperate to become one of them, that sometimes, he had tried too hard to fit in.

Finally, Salazar had addressed Olde Magick and his personal views towards it, but more shocking than that, the others had actually _listened._

In return, Salazar had learned far more about the others than he had originally known, especially in regards to what had happened after his own death.

He had learned how the school had grown, eventually leading to the other three having to hire outside help just to keep the school under order. He also learned about how they had developed the more modern 'House System'.

Before Salazar had died, the four of them had simply split the students into four groups and each taken one to watch over. That way, they each shared an equal part in the responsibility that came from dealing with the care involved in a boarding school that housed adolescents. Sometimes they had argued over who got which student, but the system had worked nevertheless.

Then, with Salazar's death, that system had been threatening to fall apart. The three remaining founders were even considering doing away with Slytherin House just to keep the school working as intended.

Luckily, no matter how they had felt about their late friend at the time, they still couldn't bring themselves to erase all traces of him within the school. Thus, they chose one of Salazar's previous students— who had also recently become one of their fellow teachers— to be the first official Head of Slytherin house. According to them, the man had graciously run the house in Salazar's stead, only passing on the mantle when he felt he had become too old for such an important three remaining founders also became the first official 'Heads' of their own houses after that, with the understanding that this new system would allow their school to continue after they were all dead.

Following a similar line of thought, Godric spent the next few years developing the infamous Sorting Hat, which he charmed to sort the students into the four houses for them. That way, they would no longer have to worry about who decided where each of the students would go.

He had also learned far more about the personal lives of his friends after his own death.

Before he had died, all four of Rowena and Godric's children had already been born. Their eldest, Emeric, had actually been born the winter after Hogwarts had opened. Leofric had been born in the summertime, two years later. The youngest son, Gawain had been born when Salazar had been 23— Leo was three at the time and Emeric had just turned six. Finally Helena, the youngest, and also the only girl had been born the following year, which just so happened to be the same year as Ryons' birth. She had only been four when Salazar had died.

From the discussion he had with the other reincarnated founders, he was finally able to learn what had become of the four little kids he had once known. He learned that, Emeric, out of the four children grew to be the most like his mother— he had always been a stoic, thoughtful and nonviolent child, so it really did make sense— he was, however, far more interested in studying than teaching. Emeric later went on to become an inventor; eventually leaving the school entirely as he worked to develop better wards and protections for wizarding kind. He also ultimately took on the mantle of Lord Gryffindor after his father passed away.

On the other hand, Leo, the second eldest, had had a huge amount of interest in the school and teaching. Once the charismatic young lad had come of age, he immediately wished to become a teacher, more than eager to become an official role model for the younger generations. Later, Leofric Gryffindor was even the first to be dubbed a 'Headmaster' of the school.

Gawain also stayed at the school, but he was far more interested in joking around and teasing than actually teaching the students. He was incredibly loyal however, and ready to give his aid whenever it was truly needed. And just like they had as children, Gawain and Leo stuck to each other like glue even as they grew older. If you found one, the other was not far behind.

According to Helga, who, out of the four of them had lived the longest, all three brothers had succeeded in outliving her, though she hadn't found any official records for what had become of the three boys.

Helga at that point had also pointed out that their twins were never that close to the four older children, due to the rather large age gap separating them. Although, Leo—and Gawain to and extent— did treat them as though he was their elder brother.

As for Helena, Salazar finally got to learn what had really happened to her that had caused her to eventually become the Grey Lady. According to the others, Helena was only sixteen when she had died; killed in what they believe was likely an accident.

As the only female child born with three elder brothers, Helena had always been the odd one out. Rowena believed that her loneliness may have been made worse due to her not even sharing the same surname as her brothers. Rowena had struggled to connect with her aloof daughter growing up, but their polarizing personalities made it difficult, especially as she grew older. It had always been Godric who had had the most luck getting the young lady to talk.

And then Godric had died.

After Salazar's death, Godric's hatred of Olde Magick only escalated and he had sought to destroy any mention of it. This had naturally resulted in him making enemies, especially amongst the nonmagical societies— most of the _wizards_ agreed with his cause, after all— who he happened disturb on his purges.

Of course, Godric hadn't known much about the nonmagical societies before he began his crusade, seeing as he had grown up in the Gryffindor's all magical kingdom. It never even occurred to him that the nonmagical folk wouldn't understand what he meant when he explained the difference between 'good' magic and 'evil'. Thus, if the nonmagical societies had disliked the idea of a school of 'demon arts' before, they hated it now that they had met one of its founding members.

He had been forced to protect the school, after a large group of muggles had come to violently shut their operation down. Godric, with the help of the other teachers and older students had managed to fend them off easily enough, but not without receiving what they had at the time believed to be a trivial injury. One that didn't even warrant magical healing. Unfortunately, said injury became infected, and before any of them could blink, Godric had been on death row. Not even magic could save him.

Things seemed to just go down hill from there.

Helena and Rowena's relationship had become even more strained, and now that Godric wasn't around to defuse the tension, it just escalated more and more. Eventually, she ran away, stealing her mother's prized diadem— a wedding gift from Gilbert Gryffindor— in the process. William, a childhood friend of Helena's had been sent to retrieve her. It had been unclear exactly what had occurred, however, what Rowena believed to have happened was that her daughter had fallen from where she had been standing overlooking a ravine where she had probably been arguing with William. William— now known more famously as the Bloody Baron— had climbed down after her, where he had held her bloodied body in despair. Unable to deal with what he had seen, he had then taken his own life.

Neither returned to the school as ghosts until sometime after all four of the founders had died.

When news arrived of the two youths' untimely deaths, Rowena had been beside herself with grief. She stopped caring about virtually everything, and if it hadn't been for the combined efforts of Helga and Leofric, she probably would have even stopped eating. As it was, Rowena never truly rebounded from the grief of both loosing her husband and only daughter, and when she fell ill a few winters later, both her body, and her will were not strong enough to fight it off.

Thus left Helga, the sole survivor of the four. After the deaths of all her friends, Helga stepped away from the school for the most part, content to live out the rest of her life away from all the reminders of times past.

For Salazar, it had been rather surreal to learn of the fates of his friends after his own demise. He was grateful for the insight that it brought however, in understanding the people that his friends had become. Some of the topics had been hard for the four of them to discuss, but he knew that the four of them would be stronger for it in the end.

Overall, their long talk had lasted into the early hours of the morning. Nevertheless, when Salazar had finally retired to bed, he felt far lighter than he had in a long time.

~x~

In the morning, Salazar had once again joined Rowena in the study with a mind that was far more qualified to work at its full capacity.

As he stared at the pages in front of him, he couldn't help but think back to what Godric had said yesterday about their doubles.

Was it really possible that they were really all dead here, or that they never existed? He agreed that it did seem rather unlikely that they actually did exist at this point. Surely someone would have at least mentioned one of them at one point.

It also seemed extremely convenient. What was the likelihood of the four of them being sent to an alternate reality so much like their own that didn't have a single one of them?

Suddenly, it clicked, and Salazar rushed over towards where they had spread all their notes regarding the original ritual that they had used to get here. He could feel Rowena watching him curiously from where she was sitting with her book, but he paid her no mind.

His finger traced the inked words on the parchment as his eyes seemed to move with an unnatural speed across them. Pulling out a spare quill, Salazar quickly made a few adjustments to their notes before he read through them once more, hoping beyond hope that he was wrong in his realization.

Dread pooled in his stomach as he became more and more certain that he was not misinterpreting his new annotations. Just to be certain, he went over all his calculations once more, just to make sure that he wasn't drawing the wrong conclusion.

He wasn't.

Slowly he leaned back in his chair, pulling his body away from the mess of parchment on the table as he kneaded his face wearily with his hands. He could still feel Hermione's inquisitive gaze on him, but he really wasn't up for explaining, due to how much his own mind still reeling. Finally, he opened his mouth and uttered the one word he felt was capable of truly describing what he was thinking.

"Shit."

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* * *

 **AN:** Please don't forget to Review!

This chapter is mostly filler so that the plot can move a bit more into the core issues of the story. This chapter is also a bit shorter than most of the ones I have written for this story, but I couldn't resist not ending the chapter here. Next chapter will probably be up relatively soon, seeing as I am such a good procrastinator…

Also, I know that what I have written is not exactly what happened between the Bloody Baron and the Grey Lady, but for once, I wanted to paint the Baron as a good guy. It really is inconsequential to the plot either way.

I know I have drawn some comparisons between Salazar and Godric and Merlin and Arthur before, but I also wanted to point out that I have been drawing inspiration for the pair's interactions from Marvel's Thor and Loki. Actually, I even based Salazar's looks and clothes(to an extent) on Loki. I don't know if any of you see it, but yeah. I've pulled inspiration from a number of other characters for all four of the founder's personalities.

Can anyone guess who might have inspired Rowena or Helga?

Till next time!

~Dawn


	13. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Merlin, nor anything else recognizable. No profit is coming from this. I am merely playing in the sandboxes of those far more famous than myself.**

Unbetaed.

I can't believe this little story has gained over 100 followers! Thank you guys so much for your support! It means a lot!

Without further ado, I present to you…

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* * *

 **What Went Wrong?**

~x~

 **Ch 12:** _And The Truth Shall Set You Free_

 _~x~_

Salazar was certain he had worried Rowena when she made no mention of his usage of foul language.

But even if she had made a comment on his choice of words, Salazar was pretty sure he wouldn't have noticed. No, he was far too busy trying to tame the whirlwind of thoughts passing through his mind.

 _How could we have been so stupid?_ That, more than anything else stood out the clearest to Salazar.

Finally, Rowena, letting her curiosity overrule her patience, placed her book aside and cautiously made her way over to where he was seated. For a few minutes, she stood beside him, offering both her support and urging him with her inquisitiveness.

Instead of answering her unspoken questions however, Salazar slowly compiled the pages of parchment that he had made his annotations on. He then passed them to her without a word before slowly pulling himself to his feet and stalking out of the study.

He knew she was more than smart enough to come to the same conclusions that he just had. Looking at his already made annotations, it would only take her mere seconds to reach the same conclusions that he had already come to.

As Salazar stepped into the Main Hall, he hesitated briefly, before making his way over to the training room.

It was empty, but it was already early afternoon, so that wasn't all that surprising. Godric and Helga were both probably up in the main part of the school sitting in on a class or something. That was probably for the better, actually. Even though Salazar and Godric's friendship had been mended, he really wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone at the moment. He didn't want to risk messing up their friendship again by saying something he didn't mean in frustration, either.

It would be far more productive for him to just blow off his steam here.

~x~

Salazar was still punching at the stuffed dummy when Helga found him. His knuckles had begun to blister from the abuse he was inflicting on them, but she doubted that he had even noticed. It was rare for her to see him like this.

If there was anything that Harry and Salazar shared, it was their base personality. Specifically, their tempers. Both were typically very good at controlling it however, unless they were taxed too far emotionally. Given how much of a rollercoaster the last few days had been, Helga couldn't say she was surprised that Salazar had finally lowered himself to physical violence as a means to blow off steam.

She was just worried about what finally triggered it.

"Sal?" She asked quietly as she approached from behind.

As if her voice was a remote, his motions immediately stilled, but he didn't turn around or otherwise respond. Helga continued to walk closer towards him, her motions more akin to one who was approaching a cornered wild animal than another human being.

Finally she reached him, and hesitantly placed a gentle hand on his upper back. She could feel him quivering as she finally spoke again. "Are you okay?"

"I just want to go home." He whispered after a long moment, his voice was rougher than it normally was.

"We all do, Harry." Helga responded, mildly confused. Everything had seemed fine, after last night. She could only assume that something had happened within the last few hours to have compelled him to act like this.

"Um, Rowena called a group meeting in the study. She says there is something that we all need to discuss… but I'm getting the feeling that you already know what is going on…"

The only reaction that she got to her announcement was for Salazar to snort softly.

After that, they stood in silence, neither of them moving, until finally, Salazar spun on his heels and faced her. For a fraction of a second, she could see him. For once, he was completely devoid of any of his masks.

And then the moment was over.

Almost unnaturally, his face smoothed out, and he once again closed himself off from the outside world. He was once again the perfect picture of control.

The bits of emotion that she had seen however, turned her stomach. Whatever was going on, it wasn't something he thought was good.

"Let's go then." He murmured as he began to step towards the exit.

~x~

"But that's just it! We _are_ in the past. Just not in _our_ past." Rowena was saying to Godric as Salazar and Helga slipped into the crowded study.

Truly, when they reconstructed their Chambers, they really should have made the small little study a tad bit bigger. It was perfect when it was just Salazar and Rowena in here, but with all four of them, it was a tight fit.

"But how is that even possible?" Godric was asking in confusion. "I mean I _get_ that we are in another reality, or whatever, _and_ technically in the past, but..?"

"Simple. Our equations were actually _completely_ correct and we _did_ travel back in time just like intended. Three years, in fact. However, Salazar and I made a large error while working on our equation, and that sent us into the past of another reality rather than our own."

"Okay. I had kinda figured that, actually, but _what_ exactly did you two screw up on so badly? Its not exactly like you guys to mess up this big."

Rowena looked slightly affronted, so Salazar decided to answer in her stead. "Our doubles." He drawled simply, Godric's head whipped around to look at the black haired teen. It seemed that with his focus on the conversation with Rowena, he hadn't even noticed their arrival.

"We had assumed that, like with the time turners, we would simply have to be wary about said doubles." Salazar reiterated, "But, with a time turner, you can't actually _change_ the past, and eventually you become one with your 'twin' again. We specifically set up our equations so that we would _not_ become one with our doubles again. That way, we actually could _change_ the past. If it had worked, there would have forever existed two of each of us… and _that's_ not actually possible. I suppose to understand what went wrong, you first must better understand how time works."

With a nod, Rowena took back over. "Yes. You see, time can be classified as moving in two separate ways: linear, and nonlinear. As it sounds, linear time is the concept that time follows a straight line, and moves in one direction. Think of a river; the water only moves in one direction. With linear time, if you change something 'upstream' it is going to create the butterfly effect, and the future, or 'downstream', will forever be altered. Nonlinear, on the other hand, is best described as a pond. The past, present, and future are all interconnected, and are actually happening simultaneously."

"I know that that probably sounds weird," Salazar stepped in to clarify. "But think about how a time turner works. Using one, nobody can actually prevent past occurrences, unless they already _did so_ and just don't know it yet _._ "

Rowena nodded, "Exactly. Time turners deal with nonlinear time, which is also why you can't go very far back when using one, and why you don't technically 'change' the past when you go back… because technically speaking you have already made those changes, even if you don't know it yet.

"Now, both of these two types of 'time' are actually happening simultaneously, with linear time being more of a long term thing, and nonlinear being more short term. Again, think of the water example that I first brought up: Water flows down a river in a linear direction, however along the way, it sloshes and splashes and swirls…

"The thing is, linear time and nonlinear time are actually connected by major choices. This is why we couldn't calculate exactly when we would end up. We intended to travel back along the linear time 'river' until we got to a stable point in nonlinear time. We then intended to attempt to pave a new path of linear time. Basically, let the 'water' flow in a new direction. We could only safely predict that we would arrive sometime within the past ten years. Trying to go back any further than that would have been far more risky, if not impossible.

"Of course, despite time being essentially nonlinear, outside the major choices that keep the 'water' flowing linearly, we are only capable of experiencing time as linear. Even using time turners, time still _feels_ linear to us. This is why we get the false illusion of actually 'going back into time'. And it is here that Salazar and I thought we had it all figured out originally. We understood the relationship between nonlinear and linear time. In order to actually make changes to history, we knew we needed to go back entirely in linear time, not nonlinear. Unfortunately, it was more complicated than even we predicted.

"We were aware that using the same time traveling methods used by the time turner would not actually do us any good. So when we started writing out the ritual that brought us here, we made calculations to deliberately keep us from moving nonlinearly. Its why we were so certain that we would forever have doubles, actually. The think is, _true doubles—_ not the temporary ones that come about when traveling nonlinearly with a time turner— are actually a transgression that goes against the laws that govern the universe. Simply put, they are not possible.

"Of course, all _realities_ are connected by the linear time that makes up our choices. What we had originally thought was just a river is actually a huge _delta_ of different channels, with new paths being forged all the time. That being said, when we used our ritual to magically force ourselves linearly back in time, the laws that governed the universe were forced to act against us, rerouting us along a side linear pathway, to a similar reality where we didn't actually exist. _Thats_ how we ended up here."

"…I think I only understood half of that." Helga replied, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Yes. I think that we will leave the theory of the universe, to the two of you. I'll stick to my weapons. They are much more self explanatory." Godric replied with a grin, but Salazar could still see his underlying worry.

Playing along, Salazar smirked but refused to retort. Instead, he clarified, "Basically, the concept of having permanent doubles in not possible, so our spell placed us in the closest reality to our own where none of our doubles are in existence."

"Why didn't you just say that to begin with?" Godric asked.

Rowena gave a huff. "I don't even know why I try. _Anyways_. We have two choices at this point. We can go back to our reality— our _time_ more specifically— or stay here. If we do want to return however, we will need to start making preparations very soon. The longer we wait, the harder it will be for Sal and I to calculate the exact path that we will be required to travel back on."

"Also, keep in mind," Salazar added, "If we choose to go back to our own reality, nothing will have changed. We will arrive at the same moment that we left, a few months older, and with only our memories from our time here to tell us that we actually went anywhere at all."

The four of them sat in heavy silence after that, the implication of what their decision would mean rested heavily on their minds. If they chose to return, nothing would change for this reality, but at the same time, that meant that they would be leaving, with full understanding that they were dooming this reality to likely end up in a similar fashion as theirs had. On the other hand, should they choose to stay, they would be abandoning those they left behind forever.

They hadn't even taken the time to say goodbye.

They hadn't thought that they _needed_ to. Granted, there weren't that many people left for them to say goodbye to, but that didn't mean that there weren't a _few_. Two of Ron's older brothers had survived the war, after all, along with some of their old classmates… Were they truly willing to abandon them, even if it meant saving different versions of the same people?

"I think we should remain here then." Helga murmured quietly breaking the silence. Salazar was well aware of the look that she was giving him as she continued to speak. "We can actually do good here, right? We can still save people, which is why we wanted to come to the past in the first place. The Voldemort here might be different—"

"Still alive you mean?" Salazar supplied unhelpfully. Helga glared at him mildly for the interruption before continuing, but Salazar could tell that she was worried more than mad.

"— _but_ there must be somethings from our own Voldemort that are the same… and we can use that!"

"I agree with Helga." Godric stated firmly. "What point is there in going back, anyways?"

Rowena looked over at Salazar, "Sal?"

Salazar was well aware of how the other three were deliberately not mentioned how this would mean that they were _abandoning_ their reality. He briefly considered pointing this out, but ultimately decided against it. He knew the others were well aware of what was being left unsaid— it wouldn't change their minds.

Salazar wasn't even sure why _he_ would want to return to their original world. There wasn't really anything left for him there either.

And they _could_ make a difference here.

Finally, Salazar sighed, "I personally don't like this reality all that much, but I can already tell that I'm out voted. Besides, you three are the only ones I really had left from our world anyways."

"Then I suppose its settled!" Rowena said with a pinched smile, "We will stay!"

"Then I think it is high time that we create a plan of action." Godric commented. Receiving a nod from Rowena, he continued. "I think it would be wise to let Dumbledore know what is truly going on."

Salazar opened his mouth to argue, but Godric quickly cut him off.

" _Wait!_ Hear me out!" He said quickly, "Our doubles are no longer a concern, yeah? So there is no real reason we need to keep up this charade— And I am assuming that staying means that we are going to begin to actively move against Voldemort? Then we are going to _need_ allies. This isn't like our original plan. We cannot just go Horcrux hunting like we intended because its likely those Horcruxes are not going to even be in the same _places_ as they were in our world.

"And what if Voldemort has made more? He turned Harry into one on accident, so clearly he was capable of making at least _one_ more after his death in 1981. We won't be able to make a single move against him until we have _all_ the Horcruxes either."

"Voldemort's also so different here." Helga agreed, "We can hardly predict his actions because I highly doubt that he even _thinks_ the same was as he did in our reality."

"Exactly." Godric nodded.

"Okay, I do think it wise to get Dumbledore on board with what is going on, and perhaps even the Order— assuming that it exists here. Their aid would make everything immeasurably easier for us, moving forward… But other than that, we should continue playing the time lost Founders." Rowena remarked, "We wouldn't want to tip off Voldemort that we are a threat now, do we?"

The other three turned to look at Salazar then, and slowly, Salazar found himself nodding. Logically, he knew what they were saying made perfect sense.

That didn't mean he had to _like_ it.

"Very well." Salazar conceded.

It looked like he wasn't going to be able to avoid an eventual confrontation with his parents after all.

Damn that Potter luck.

 _~x~_

Salazar waited for the other three to disappear behind the doors of each of their private quarters before making his way towards the main doors. It hadn't actually been that late yet, only early evening, but with the heavy topics still fresh on all of their minds, it had been decided that perhaps turning in early was wise.

Besides, they were going to be revealing their identities the next day, so it was probably best that they were well rested.

Salazar, however, highly doubted that any one of them was truly going to sleep well that night. That's why he himself decided he wasn't going to even try.

Might as well _do_ something rather than let himself be haunted by his own thoughts.

Regardless, he couldn't think of a single _logical_ reason for why he was currently beelining towards the dungeons. Oh, he knew exactly what he intended to do once he got there, but it was far more brash of an action than Salazar typically carried out.

Of course, the logical side of his brain seemed to have completely short circuited, and he found himself drawing nearer and nearer towards what he was sure was going to be his stupidest decision in a long time.

Perhaps he just wanted to punish himself?

He was well aware that his alliance with the elder Potions Master was not likely to last after the man learned who he really was. Really, it was laughable that he felt the need to visit the man now, but he needed somebody to talk to. And right now, Severus was his best option.

Besides, if he ended up lashing out unfairly, it wasn't like it truly mattered. This would probably be his last cordial conversation he shared with the man.

When he arrived at his destination, Salazar only paused long enough to spit out the password.

" _Prince_."

The door opened and Salazar barged in. Severus looked up from where he was relaxing on his armchair in front of the fire with a book.

"Salazar..? Is barging into my quarters becoming a habit of yours? I had been under the impression that you and the other three had made amends. Has something gone wrong again?"

Salazar waited until the door had clicked shut before opening his mouth. "I needed to talk to someone." He said stiffly. "Someone who _isn't_ a founder."

Severus furrowed his brow in confusion. "Very well… What exactly did you wish to discuss? Would you like a cup of tea?" The Potions Master gestured towards the tea pot sitting innocently on the coffee table before him as he himself took a sip from his own cup.

Instead of answering either of the questions in words, Salazar let out a frustrated noise and began pacing the length of the sitting room. He could feel the curious eyes of the Potions Master on him.

' _This had sounded like such a brilliant idea a few minutes ago._ ' He snarked to himself. _'No wait. It sounded stupid then too!'_

Finally he forced himself to a halt and spun to face the older man. "If you had the choice between living in a world where you are loved, but pretty much everyone you care about is dead, or living in a world that scorns you, but you are still capable of protecting said loved ones from afar, what would you chose?"

If Severus was thrown off by the question, he didn't show it. "That is a rather subjective question. I presume it has an explanation?"

What did it matter anymore anyways? He was here, wasn't he? They weren't hiding their identities anymore, not really. He might as well get this over with while he was still too angry to fully care about the outcome. Thus, instead of answering the question posed, Harry decided to speak bluntly.

"I'm not who I say I am— none of us are. I mean— I _am_ , but I am also not."

"…pardon?"

"I was reincarnated. Okay?" Salazar snapped, looking increasingly frustrated. "I didn't come to the future from the 10th century or whatever. That was all a very elaborate lie. Time travel that far into the future or past isn't magically possible, as a matter of fact. Believe me, I would know."

Salazar watched Snape closely through all of this, but the Potions Master was keeping his reactions carefully guarded.

"Then who are you exactly?" The older man asked finally.

Salazar rubbed a hand over his face, "I'm still Salazar Slytherin. Don't think for a _moment_ that I am not… But I am also Harry Potter."

 _That_ got a reaction.

"I see you've heard of me." Salazar couldn't help sneering, if only to cover up how uncomfortable he was feeling in that moment. _'So I do exist here. Or_ did _, rather.'_

"Indeed…" Snape murmured after a moment, looking rather lost. "Can you prove it?"

Sighing, Salazar pulled out his wand. "I swear on my magic that I am Harry James Potter, so mote it be. _Expecto Patronum_. Happy?"

Severus' eyes followed the familiar buck as it pranced around the room. For once, the Patronus charm's light didn't seem to be making him feel any better. "You are supposed to be dead."

"Am I?" Salazar asked rhetorically as he flicked his wand to vanish Prongs before deftly putting it away. Severus finally returned his gaze back to Harry's. "We had figured that something like that had to be the case when we realized we didn't have doubles running amok. The four of us are actually from an alternate reality."

Severus narrowed his eyes. "Why exactly are you telling me all of this?"

Salazar shrugged, looking away. "Because it doesn't matter any more. We are going to tell Dumbledore tomorrow morning anyways, so I'm sure it is only a matter of time before you are informed _officially_. It looks like we are going to be staying here permanently."

"Were you unable to reformulate your spells?"

Salazar shook his head but kept his eyes focused on the far wall. "Not exactly. We figured it out alright. We just came to the unfortunate realization that what we wanted was virtually impossible. Thus, we are stuck with two options. Stay here, or go back to _our_ desolate future. The others chose to stay here."

"That question you asked."

"Indeed."

"And you want to leave?"

"I don't _know!_ I don't know _what_ I want." Harry huffed, crossing his arms and glaring even harder at the far wall. He didn't care how childish he probably seemed to his older companion at the moment.

Nodding thoughtfully, Severus switched topics. "Then what do you want with me?"

"...I don't know."

"You don't know a lot of things." Severus pointed out.

Harry snorted deridingly, "Thanks."

He was actually surprised at how well Snape was taking all of this, or at least, keeping it together in front of him. He had honestly expected the man to either blow up at him and drag him to Dumbledore like _his_ Snape would have done or at the very least, want nothing to do with him. He had actually sort of _wanted_ the man to react in someway. At least then he would have someone to yell his frustration out at. It was far harder to get mad at a person who refused to rise to the bait.

"I presume that you and the others ending up here was an accident then. Where were you trying to go? And while masquerading as the founders no less."

"The past." Harry responded offhandedly, finally taking a seat on the couch near the armchair Snape was currently occupying. "We were trying to get to _our_ past, so that we might be able to rewrite history, so to speak. _Ha!_ It sounds stupid and childish even to my own ears now. What were we _thinking_?"

Salazar paused, closing his eyes as he took a deep breath and slowly let it out through his nose. Severus simply sipped his tea— if the slight chink of china was anything to go by— and waited patiently for him to continue.

"Our world was _decimated_ by the war. Just the _known_ deaths far outnumbered the survivors that were accounted for. I don't— there is no possible way that the British Wizarding World of our reality can truly recover. Not like it was, anyways… As for our little dress-up game, we decided it would be safer to be the founders so as to circumvent the problem of having doubles mulling around. Isn't _that_ a joke."

Harry broke off with a self-depreciating laugh. Severus however remained silent as if expecting the younger man to continue. When Salazar didn't, Severus finally spoke up, his tone difficult to interpret.

"And yet you four are technically also the founders."

"Correct."

"Then you remember all of your memories from your previous life?"

"Correct again."

Severus took a deep breath and Harry crossed his arms over his chest, keeping his face blank. He was still refusing to look at the Potions Master, though he himself was unsure as to why.

Fear of rejection, maybe?

"If you already remember your entire life, why are you coming to me? Shouldn't _I_ be the one coming to you for advice, _Lord Slytherin_?"

" _Don't_ call me that. You think that me remembering means that I wouldn't want a second opinion from one I consider a friend?" Salazar said cynically, "Besides, I died the first time when I was 28. Right now? I truly _am_ only 18. You are what, 36? You probably have more experience living as an adult than I do with both of my lives _put together._ I also only remembered my life as Salazar about two years ago."

Okay, so maybe _that_ was why Salazar felt the need to inform Severus of the truth personally… _And_ why he wanted the man's acceptance. He viewed the older man as a _friend_. And wasn't _that_ a weird insight. Never in a million years would he have thought that he could one day consider the _greasy git_ as a _friend_.

"And don't let my famous name fool you, I am not actually some sort of super villain. I'm _human_. I've made a lot of mistakes in my life— _lives_ — but that does not mean that I am not an ordinary human."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Snape drawled, however Salazar wasn't sure if he truly meant it or was merely humoring him. Before he could think too deeply on it, the Potions Master continued.

"So you've known all along why we have been acting the way we have around you," he surmised, "And yet, you've still been allowing us to treat you like rubbish."

"Well, I wouldn't go that far," Salazar mused, "and I certainly would have been wary about me, had the situation been reversed."

"Still."

Salazar grinned, but it was more akin to barring his teeth than an upturn of the lips, "I knew what I was getting myself into when I agreed to this. It was actually mostly my idea in the first place— It was _necessary_."

"And it's not necessary anymore?"

Salazar rolled his eyes up to the ceiling. "Obviously not. Like I already said, the Headmaster will know everything before breakfast is served— if not before then, now that I've told _you_. The charade is _over._ "

"And you don't like that."

"I think I've made it _abundantly_ clear to everyone that I just want to go home."

"To the reality where nearly everyone is dead?" Snape challenged. Salazar didn't answer and after a moment, the Potions Master chose to ask a slightly different question. "Why exactly is that?"

Salazar remained silent for a long moment before finally answering, and when he did, his voice was barely a whisper. "I'm tired of fighting. It's practically all I've ever known! Fighting Riddle all through my Hogwart's years. Fighting to _survive_ as a child in _both_ lifetimes. Fighting _Godric_ , my friends… This was supposed to be _easy!_ We already knew how to defeat him! It would be quick, and everyone would _live_ , and then, _finally_ I might not have to fight anymore…"

"I'm sorry." Severus stated, finally.

Harry's head whipped around to finally meet the Potions Master's steady gaze straight on. The raven haired teen wasn't entirely sure what Snape was apologizing for, but he was certain that the older man meant it. Salazar dipped his head slightly in acknowledgment, not quite trusting his voice.

The pair sat in silence for nearly an hour after that. Severus sipping his tea, while Harry merely stared vacantly at the wall, lost in his own thoughts. At last, Salazar stood up from the couch that he had been occupying and giving the Potions Master a slight nod, made his way back out of the room.

He supposed he should have been a bit worried that Snape would alert Dumbledore about what was going on before tomorrow— that would be fun to explain to the others now, wouldn't it?— but somehow, he doubted the man would say anything.

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* * *

 **AN:** Please don't forget to Review!

So this chapter was a huge turning point… I hope I did it justice!

This really _will_ be the last chapter for at least a week. I need to study if I want to actually pass my tests… Wish me luck!

Till next time!

~Dawn


	14. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Merlin, nor anything else recognizable. No profit is coming from this. I am merely playing in the sandboxes of those far more famous than myself.**

Unbetaed.

I'm back! Cheers!

Without further ado, I present to you…

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 **What Went Wrong?**

~x~

 **Ch 13:** _Interrogation_

~x~

Salazar kept an easy pace with the other three founders as they trailed Dumbledore up to his office the next morning. Behind them, the four Heads of House followed closely behind.

Salazar hadn't expected the four Heads to come along for this particular conversation, but he supposed when Godric had inquired about them having a private conversation with the Headmaster this morning at breakfast, Dumbledore had assumed that they were invited. Not that Salazar really minded, to be honest. He knew that all four were completely trustworthy from his reality, and he hadn't seen anything here that would hint that _that_ had changed.

Besides, he had already told Snape, why couldn't the other three know as well?

It seemed like an eternity before the group arrived in Dumbledore's office. Salazar quickly sat down, and the others followed suit. The raven haired teen was pretty sure that his friends were just as nervous as himself— actually, their nerves were rather blatant in their body language, and he was certain that he was not the only one who had noticed— but unlike them, Salazar was determined to not show his own anxiety to the others.

He might not have been the leader of the founders, but he liked to think that he had always been a figure that the others could lean on in both lives. Besides, there was no way he was allowing anyone to think that he was actually worried. No way.

After they had all settled into their seats, or came to a halt near the far wall, in Severus' case, the small group remained in silence for a long moment. Salazar was certain that not a single one of them wanted to be the one to actually break the silence. He certainly didn't anyways.

Actually, Harry was more than willing to sit back and let Godric take the reigns for this little conversation. It would only be a short relief though, for Harry was certain that as soon as his identity was revealed, he would be plunged right back into the spotlight once more. He squeezed his hands together until his knuckles became white with tension before forcing his entire body to relax, using an old calming method he had learned during his childhood. His _first_ childhood.

"Was it the dueling lessons you are starting on Sunday that you wished to discuss?" Dumbledore broke the silence finally, "I must say, I think it is a wonderful idea! The whole school is already taking about it."

"I actually had a question about that," Professor Sprout butted in before Godric could speak. "Will it be a problem that some of your students are muggleborn? I simply cannot allow any of my 'Puffs to be excluded due to their blood status."

The Head of Hufflepuff was looking directly at Salazar as she spoke, and the raven haired teen suppressed the urge to role his eyes. Didn't anyone even try to be subtle these days? If he really _had_ hated muggleborns, wouldn't it be wise to _not_ bring attention to their existence in the school?

 _Honestly_.

"And a muggleborn is what, exactly?" Salazar drawled, lifting his chin in what he knew his friends would recognize as mock scorn.

To his right, Salazar could see Rowena shaking her head in exasperation. Godric's face on the other hand was light with amusement. Despite their different reactions, both of their expressions held the same root question: _Is this really necessary?_

Helga's face was hidden from his sightline— she was seated behind and to his left, and he didn't want to make a show of turning his head to look at her— but he could guess that she was probably sharing the other twos sentiment.

He shot them a smug look in reply.

Oh, _yes_.

This was _entirely_ necessary, in his opinion. If they were going to bring up such a topic, he was most certainly going to enjoy throwing it back in their faces. Besides, they wouldn't be getting many more chances to play the time lost founders with these people for much longer. He might as well enjoy messing with them this one last time.

McGonagall sniffed. "A muggleborn is a witch or wizard who is born to nonmagical parents."

Harry let his nose wrinkled in disdain as the term was defined for him. Across the table, McGonagall saw this and exploded, and Salazar swallowed a laugh. _So predictable._

"How dare you! You have no right to come into our time and judge the muggleborns for their being here. Much has changed since your time."

Seated to his left, Salazar could hear Helga release a rather unladylike snort, and his own lips twitched in response. "I've noticed." Salazar stated calmly with a touch of amusement. "However, you have misunderstood my scorn… I have nothing against these… _muggleborns_. After all, by your definition, I am one myself. I was simply annoyed at humanities need to put unnecessary labels on everyone. It is the creation of 'us' and 'them' that creates wars, after all."

"How can you claim to be a muggleborn? That can't possibly be true!" Flitwick cried from across the room.

Salazar flicked his eyes to the short professor and raised an eyebrow. "Why can't it?" he retorted. "My mother was no witch, I assure you. As for my father, I never met the man. I doubt my mother would have even been able to tell me which of the many men she bedded it was. Unfortunately, she kicked me out onto the street before I was even old enough to ask her."

This was met with shocked silence.

Salazar leaned back in his chair with his hands folded carelessly on his lap, feeling a touch smug. That was just too easy. Served them right for judging a book by it's cover. In the corner of his eye he could see Severus leaning up against the wall. The potions master's eyes were filled with laughter even as his face remained indifferent.

Granted, _Salazar_ would never have so openly admitted his heritage to perceived strangers as Harry just had. However, with his years living as Harry Potter, the dull ache and embarrassment he had once felt at admitting his lack of rank and abandonment had faded into the back of his mind— still there, but not something that he was unwilling to divulge.

And since the charade was up, there really wasn't any reason to _pretend_ that it bothered him. Especially if it gained him reactions like _that._

"Now that we have cleared that little detail up," Godric said, his voice laced with a barely concealed chuckle, "Perhaps we should get to the topic that actually brings us to your office today, Headmaster… And its not the dueling lessons, I'm afraid."

Godric's eyes flicked to the four professors that were also occupying the small office. "Are you sure that you would like your Heads of House to sit in on this meeting?" He asked after a moment, "I don't necessarily have a problem with them, but I would warn you that the information that we intend to divulge could be dangerous… in the wrong hands, that is."

Dumbledore took a moment to consider the redhead's warning before replying. "I appreciate your concern, however I insure you that I trust these four implicitly."

Godric nodded quickly, but Salazar was pretty sure his friends eyes flickered to Severus before settling back on Dumbledore once more. Godric then took a deep steadying breath and shifted in his chair before speaking. Salazar could hear the nervousness plainly in his friends voice. "Well then. I suppose that it is wise for me to first say that the four of us mean you no harm. Quite the contrary, actually since we fully intend to aid you in the war—"

This time, Salazar couldn't help but actually roll his eyes at his friend's lack of tact. His friend was certainly gifted in strategy on the battle field, and had an awe-inspiring presence to him, but a way with words he did not have.

All around them, the professors— sans Snape of course, though he did give an impressive performance of leaning forward and narrowing his eyes— stiffened at the mention of war.

"—I mean, how could we _not?_ I would never join such a evil—"

"Perhaps it would be wise if I helped explain?" Salazar cut in, giving his friend a not-so-subtle look to kindly shut up. Godric looked sheepish and shut his mouth with an audible click.

Nodding once, Salazar took a breath before speaking up, his voice slow and calm, "Please don't be alarmed. I promise, that our knowledge of current happenings will not hurt the spacetime continuum in the least. The reason for that is actually what we wanted to bring to your attention today."

Salazar paused for a moment as he took another breath. He let his eyes wander over to Snape, who held his gaze steadily before finally returning his focus onto the Headmaster. "The thing is, we are not from the past, but an alternate reality." He spoke calmly, though his insides felt like they had turned to ice.

When he failed to continue speaking, Rowena decided to take charge, saying the words that felt like cotton on Salazar's own tongue. "We are not actually the founders, but their reincarnations," she admitted quietly as she bowed her head in shame. "We are sorry that we deliberately deceived you, but truly, we didn't think that we had a choice."

"We hadn't meant to come here, that part was actually true," Helga chimed in. "The world we came from is really similar to this one though… We didn't even realize we were in the wrong reality until about 24 hours after we arrived…"

Dumbledore narrowed his eyes but didn't speak as Helga trailed off. Instead, McGonagall spoke up, "Then where were you trying to go if not here? Why the deliberate deceit?"

"The past." Godric shrugged, finally speaking up again. "The war kinda got out of hand, so the four of us decided we would try and fix it. Sal and Rona thought that they could send us back, but we arrived here instead… and we were worried about harming the timeline— that's why we thought it better to just assume our previous identities."

"So you wish our help to return to your— what did you call it— reality?" McGonagall asked incredulously.

"Er, no." Godric shook his head and shifted in his seat again. "Salazar already figured out why we came here instead of where we were trying to go, and Rowena believes they can send us home if we want… The problem is, we think it would be better to stay here and help _you_. We can do nothing further to aid our own reality— at least, nothing more than anyone else— but there is no reason why we cannot help this one. That is, if you would like our help."

Everyone's eyes turned to Dumbledore then, as they waited for his response. Salazar barely dared to breath as his former mentor turned his all-seeing eyes on him. "I will be frank." the Headmaster started slowly. "I was not inclined to trust you four the first time you came into my office. Now, you come to me to claim you have been lying this entire time. Forgive me if I am not willing to immediately trust you now. "

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair with a wearisome sigh. "However, as you already seem to be aware, we are at war. And while I have no doubt that you are in fact the founders—or at least their reincarnations, as you say— I have no way of guaranteeing that you four are in fact allies."

Dumbledore was still eyeing Salazar as he spoke. The raven haired teen swallowed thickly. "Unfortunately, I don't have many options as to who I chose to ally myself with. I am therefore willing to offer you a choice. Either you will agree under oath to return to the place from whence you came and never return, or you will all submit to interrogation under veritaserum in front of me and my allies."

Salazar whirled his head around to look directly at Godric, but the redhead kept his attention straight forward, and quickly answered without hesitation. "We will submit to the interrogation."

Salazar gripped the armrests tightly with his hands as he took a deep steadying breath, but he didn't open his mouth to argue.

"Very well," Dumbledore's eyes began to twinkle once more, something that Salazar hadn't even noticed was missing during the majority of the discussion. "Then I suppose that that is that. We will have the questioning late this afternoon in our headquarters. I am going to ask you to go there now, however. Until I am positive that you four are not threats, I would feel far more comfortable if you four were not residing within my school. Give me a moment to call a friend."

"Er, don't you want to ask us more now?" Helga asked as she cocked her head to the side. Her lips pursed into a slight frown.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "No, I'm afraid that I will let my curiosity wait until this afternoon."

Helga shrugged and momentarily met Salazar's eyes as Dumbledore stood up and walked to the fireplace. She quirked an eyebrow at him in question, her lips still set in a frown.

 _Are you okay?_ Her expression seemed to ask.

He dipped his head slightly in response, allowing his lips to quirk upwards into a tiny smile and his facial features to soften ever so slightly. _Yeah. I'll be fine._

Helga nodded and let out a long breath before turning her attention back on Dumbledore, while Salazar took the quiet moment to study the other occupants in the room.

McGonagall was looking over towards Dumbledore, her lips pressed into a fine white line. Similarly, Sprout was also watching Dumbledore. Flitwick on the other hand was looking about the room curiously, his eyes briefly locked with Salazar's own emerald ones before Harry quickly turned away. Snape also seemed to be watching him, however, instead of turning away from him, Salazar slightly raised an eyebrow. In return, the only response that Salazar received was a blink.

Shaking his head slightly, Salazar turned his attention to his right, where Rowena and Godric sat. The two of them had pushed their chairs closer together and were holding hands.

"Alright!" Dumbledore's voice startled Salazar's attention back to the front of the room. "A friend from my group of allies is going to be coming and is willing to take the four of you to our headquarters right now. On the other side, you will be met by a few more of my friends, and they will entertain the four of you until the meeting can be held later today."

' _Guard us, you mean.'_ Salazar thought darkly, _'Come on Professor, just say it how it is. We are not stupid.'_

Salazar's thoughts must have been more transparent than he had intended, because Dumbledore continued speaking. "Now, I know how this must seem to you, but truly, you are not prisoners. Until I am certain that the four of you are completely trustworthy however, I simply cannot allow you free reign of the school, or knowledge of the war effort. You did say that you wanted to help, yes?"

"Yes, we did, and we understand completely, Headmaster." Rowena agreed benignly.

Just then, the fire behind Dumbledore flared green and a familiar face stepped out of the flames.

"Ah, right on time!" Dumbledore cheered, "This is my good friend, Alastor Moody. Alastor, I don't think that these four need any introductions."

Moody's real eye narrowed, while his magical one whirled around unnaturally. "No. They don't." He answered flatly.

"A pleasure," Rowena spoke up. Salazar was sure he wasn't the only one who noticed how strained her voice was all of a sudden. Not that he could blame her, he vividly remembered Moody's gruesome death. It had been forever stamped into his memories.

"How are you wanting me to move them, Albus?" Moody asked, not taking either of his eyes off of the four teens.

"With this." The headmaster held out a nondescript journal, that Salazar guessed was a portkey. "It will take you directly to headquarters, once I have spoken the portkey's trigger phrase."

Moody nodded stiffly and snatched the journal from Dumbledore. He held it out for the four of them to take a hold of as well. "Well," he grumbled impatiently, "What are you four waiting for?"

Narrowing his eyes in annoyance, Salazar stood stiffly, and reached for the little journal. He could see the others do the same.

"I will see you in a little while! _Fawkes fire,_ " Dumbledore intoned as they were whisked away.

~x~

The place that they landed was most certainly _not_ number 12 Grimmauld Place. Instead, they landed in a bright, high-ceilinged hallway, lined with grand pillars. It frankly reminded Harry of a palace entryway more than anything. And he was certain, that he had never set foot in this place before. Ever.

That was the first thing that Salazar noted as they arrived in the new setting. The second thing, was that the people meant to guard them were none other than Nymphadora Tonks, Rubeus Hagrid and Mrs. Weasley. And Mad-Eye of course. Salazar was pretty sure that the crazy old Auror fully intended to stick around as well.

"Wotcher, Mad-Eye. This them?" Tonks greeted upon their arrival.

Moody merely grumbled in response as he shifted away from the four teens. Nonetheless, Salazar could still feel his magical eye focused directly on himself. The raven haired teen suppressed a shiver.

Upon seeing their mother alive and well, both Ron and Ginny had gone white faced, so Salazar decided to bring the attention onto himself as much as possible. He stepped forward and partially in front of Helga. It was probably best if he established himself as the spokesman for this impending exchange.

"Greetings." Salazar started, letting his tone take on the expected arrogant lilt. "Am I correct that you three are our remaining 'guards' for the duration of our stay in this fine establishment?"

"Y-yes. That's correct." Mrs. Weasley agreed, her eyes bouncing between Salazar and Moody. "Would I be correct in assuming that you are Lord Slytherin?"

Salazar's eyes crinkled in slight amusement. "You would assume correctly. And you are..? I seem to be at a disadvantage here…"

He wasn't sure how much information Dumbledore had already given them, regarding their situation. Thus, he figured it would probably be best if he kept the ruse up a little longer.

"Oh! Right! I am Molly Weasley, and behind me is Dora Black and Rubeus Hagrid."

Salazar's eyes narrowed as he studied Tonks more closely. He certainly hadn't expected the different name. Physically, nothing seemed to be different about her. He could only guess what had changed to cause her to take her mother's maiden name.

"A pleasure." He drawled at last. Salazar then allowed his eyes to wander back to the new setting he had found himself in. "So what _is_ this place exactly?"

Molly's eyes flickered to Moody as if unsure of how much information she was supposed to be divulging. "Um, well—"

"This is our current headquarters." Moody cut in, his voice warning, "That is all you need to know for now."

Salazar cocked his head to the side and gave a wide disarming grin. "Very well. I shall refrain from asking any more questions regarding that particular subject."

Moody merely narrowed his eyes at the black haired teen. "I don't like you, boy."

"Duly noted."

"Right!" Mrs. Weasley cut in, breaking the tension that was beginning to rise between Salazar and Mad-Eye. "Are any of you hungry? It is getting rather close to lunch time after all, and if I am not mistaken, you lot skipped breakfast! The kitchen is right over this way."

"That would be wonderful, Mrs. Weasley," Rowena answered before Salazar could with a warm smile.

~x~

The late afternoon finally arrived, and with it, members of what Harry assumed to be the Order began trickling in. All too soon, Dumbledore arrived with the Heads of House and a few other professors and kindly asked the four reincarnated founders to step into a sitting room adjacent from the large dining room that they intended to have the meeting. Tonks— _Dora_ was asked to wait with them.

Pretty soon, Moody came into their little room and asked Godric to come into the main dining room with him. Explaining that they were going to question them one at a time. When Moody returned for the next one of them, Godric did not return, so Salazar figured that his friend had been cleared and was now welcome to join the rest of the Order.

It seemed like hours past as Harry watched his friends leave the little room one by one. He was struck by how much it reminded him of the second task of the Triwizard Tournament. Naturally he was going to be the last one to go here too.

When his turn finally came Salazar's patience had almost ran out, and he could tell Dora was right there with him. He could tell that she was annoyed at not being a part of the rest of the group.

Finally Moody reappeared a final time in the small sitting room. The old Auror made eye contact with Harry and then turned and left the room again without a word. With narrowed eyes, Salazar slowly got up from his place on the couch and slowly followed the older man. Behind him, he could hear Dora trailing him closely.

Entering the dining room, Harry had to fight to keep his face clear of any telling emotions. While he had expected it, it was another thing to see so many familiar faces alive and well. Faces that he knew to be dead in his own reality. He recognized the vast majority of the Order members presently situated in the room, despite the fact that he knew that many of them had not been official members of the Order in his original reality. Amelia Bones, for instance, was seated next to Sirius, James and Remus. The three men looked like three peas in a pod with how closely they were huddled together at the corner of the table.

His eyes also lingered briefly on the older Weasleys. Molly's face had tears running down it. Glancing over at Ron and Ginny, he was not surprised to see that their faces were also stained with tear tracks. It was not hard to guess that their identities had officially been revealed.

Salazar approached the table in proud silence with Dora still following closely behind. Gracefully, he took a seat in one of the two empty seats next to Helga. Dora slid into the other one.

"Welcome Salazar," Dumbledore greeted, "Now, I am sure you are just as ready to get this over with as the rest of us. As I have already explained to your friends, we are going to give you a new version of veritaserum that our own potions master, Severus Snape invented himself."

Salazar's gaze turned to meet Snape's. The other potions master looked pleased with the recognition.

"This particular variant allows the drinker to have a more normal conversation, and even allows the drinker to refuse to answer. However, when they do, they cannot _not_ speak the truth. This veritaserum also works against even the most brilliant of minds, including those who can normally resist by occluding their minds."

"Impressive." Salazar murmured.

And it truly was. He had hoped that he might be able to twist some of his answers in his favor, but it looked like that wasn't going to be an option now. The only upside was the ability to refuse an answer. Granted, Salazar recognized that to do that would be the same as admitting guilt.

"Yes, I agree wholeheartedly!" Dumbledore eyes twinkled, "Now, from your friends, we already know that the four of you have the memories from your past lives in full, amongst other relevant things. Therefore, we are going to be focusing entirely on you— rather than your situation— for these questions. Alright? Here you are, my boy."

Dumbledore passed the small vial over the table and Salazar took it with nimble fingers. Taking a deep breath, Salazar brought the vial to his lips and swallowed the contents in a single gulp, never taking his eyes off of the elderly professor. He grimaced slightly at the bitter taste.

Almost instantaneously, heat flooded through his body as the potion took effect.

"What color is your hair?" The first question came almost immediately after Salazar had swallowed the the potion.

"Black."

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen."

Severus nodded. "It is working as intended."

"Do you have any ties with You-know-who?" Came the first real question.

Salazar grit his teeth. Oh, how he hated truth serum. "Yes."

Immediately the room exploded into chaos as many jumped up and began yelling. Rather than rise with the rest of them, and say something else he would regret, Salazar merely leaned back in his seat in pseudo calmness and glared forward. He wasn't looking at anyone in particular, in fact, he was trying his best to avoid eye contact with everyone.

"Wait!" Godric's voice cried, overshadowing the others, "You guys don't know the full picture! That wasn't a fair question!"

Across the table from him, Dumbledore was one of the few others who had remained seated like Salazar had. Despite the lack of twinkle in his eyes, the elderly professor looked as kindly as he had in Harry's old reality. Another minute passed, and finally Dumbledore raised one of his hands. Eventually, the room's inhabitants took notice and calmed down enough for him to speak.

"Is that so?" He questioned Godric, "How would you phrase that question then?"

Ron slowly turned to face Harry. "Are you with, or against Voldemort?" He asked plainly. Most of the room's occupants visibly reacted to Ron's blatant usage of Voldemort's name.

Salazar grinned dangerously at his friend. "Against, _naturally_."

"Then what sort of ties _do_ you have with him?" A voice Salazar couldn't place asked dubiously.

"That's a rather open-ended question for veritaserum," Salazar pointed out. He then heaved a sigh and tucked his shoulder length hair behind his ear to better display his scar. "Very well. Voldemort—it is just a _name!_ Fine, _Riddle—_ gave me this scar when I was an infant. He _marked_ me, I suppose you could say." Here, Harry's eyes flickered over towards Dumbledore, but the man gave no indication of being troubled by his particular choice of words.

Shrugging, Harry continued. "There is also the _little_ detail of him being distantly related to me… Unfortunate as that is."

"And those are the only ties you have to Riddle?" Moody practically growled.

Salazar turned his head so that he was looking directly across at Moody and raised an eyebrow challengingly. "Yes. I do believe so."

Moody nodded, before firing another question, "Is your Olde Magick dangerous?"

Salazar nearly rolled his eyes. "Yes. As is wand magic. Both can kill and both can protect."

"Explain."

"Magic is magic, Mad-Eye, it is neither evil nor good, it simply is… As I am sure _you_ know."

"Are you evil?" Another voice piped up that Salazar couldn't place. Moody looked annoyed that his own line of questions had been interrupted. Nevertheless, he waited for Salazar to give an answer.

"Seriously?" Salazar scoffed, "Truth serum, no matter how good still works off of the drinkers own beliefs. I don't think even _Voldemort_ would admit to being evil under veritaserum… But to answer you question. _No._ I do not believe myself to be evil. Perhaps misunderstood would be a better term."

"Do you really expect us to believe that Salazar Slytherin was just a misunderstood good guy?" Moody asked after a moment his eye narrowing. "Because I don't believe it. History might not be completely accurate, but it is rarely blatantly wrong."

"I never claimed to have been a _good_ guy." Salazar retorted evenly.

"Explain yourself."

"Salazar." Rowena said warningly. His eyes flickered to her for a quick moment before settling back on Moody.

What did she want him to do? He still had the veritaserum flooding his system, it's not like he could outright lie at the moment. Although it probably was his fault that the questioning had taken this particular turn.

"I grew up with the understanding that not everything was going to be handed to you. Sometimes you have to get dirty in order to gain the necessary results."

"Meaning..?"

"Veritaserum hadn't been invented back then, you know." Salazar hinted. "Of the four of us, I am pretty sure that I was the only one who had the stomach for interrogation, amongst other things."

"And do you have the stomach for it now?"

No.

Salazar didn't dare open his mouth. He was actually a bit surprised at how certain he was of his answer, and even considered the possibility that perhaps that was just the answer he wanted to hear inside his own head. Dipping his chin so that he could let his eyes settle on his folded hands, Salazar let out a slow breath and let his mind drift back momentarily to a particularly gruesome interrogation he had undertaken. It had involved the parents of a muggleborn child that they had been abusing.

His stomach turned involuntarily and Salazar squeezed his eyes shut and took a quick breath, trying to force the images back into the recesses of his mind. The knuckles on his hands went white as he tightened his grip.

No. He wasn't capable of that sort of torture anymore, that was for certain.

"We are getting off topic." Godric's voice cut in, bringing Salazar back to the present. "Lets return to the matter at hand."

Gradually, Salazar brought his eyes back up to the people seated around the large table. His gaze lingered on Ginny's face for a long moment, letting her soft expression chase away all of the dark thoughts that were filtering through his thoughts. Feeling his stare, she flicked her eyes towards him, and the corners of her mouth twitched upwards in a tiny smile.

He took another breath.

"Alright then. Answer me this," Moody leaned in, his magical eye piercing, "Who are you really?"

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 **AN:** Please don't forget to Review!

Sorry for the longer wait on this. My test kept getting pushed back. And then I had all this paperwork to complete afterwards. Ugh. Updates should be at least once a week again now.

Let me know what you think! I actually wrote this chapter 3 different ways. (One where they were questioned all together, and another where I was going to write out all their individual questions.) I felt that it was getting redundant and/or long, so in the end decided that this version was probably the best.

Till next time!

~Dawn


	15. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Merlin, nor anything else recognizable. No profit is coming from this. I am merely playing in the sandboxes of those far more famous than myself.**

Unbetaed.

Without further ado, I present to you…

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 **What Went Wrong?**

~x~

 **Ch 14:** _Harry Potter_

~x~

 _Previously_ _:_

 _"Alright then. Answer me this," Moody leaned in, his magical eye piercing, "Who are you really?"_

 _._

 _._

 _._

"Salazar Slytherin."

Salazar grinned at their stupefied expressions as he leaned back in his chair. "You are going to have to be a touch more specific, I am afraid…" He continued at last, "I might have veritaserum in my system, but that question was ridiculously vague."

Moody was not amused. "You are not funny, boy. You know what I meant, stop avoiding the question. What name were you given in this life time?"

Only silence answered him. It wasn't that Salazar didn't want to give his name— well, he kinda _didn't,_ but he also knewthat this was going to be asked eventually. He had _expected_ it— But suddenly, Salazar's throat felt like it had closed up, and he wasn't sure if he _could_ speak a single coherent syllable, let alone his entire name.

A full minute passed in utter silence before Moody finally leaned forward in his seat and narrowed his real eye. "Are you refusing to answer?" he growled, "I suppose we could start guessing. We know who all your fellow founders are and you have got to be around their ages. Unless you were reborn a muggleborn? I suppose then you would have been dead before any of us could ever have properly met you."

Salazar cocked his head to the side in confusion, letting his mind be temporarily distracted by Moody's response. Couldn't they tell who he was now that they knew he was from this era? He had to fight himself to keep from glancing at his father across the table.

"What does me being a muggleborn have to do with anything?" Salazar asked slowly.

"In 1986, a spy of He-who-should-not-be-named stole pages from the Book of Admittance." It was not Moody who answered Salazar, but Amelia Bones.

"Book of Admittance?" Salazar questioned further. He was pretty sure he had heard of the artifact at some point, but he wasn't sure.

"The book contains the names of every magical child born within the United Kingdom." Helga responded before anyone else could, "It was Leo's idea actually."

"Leo?" Dora asked from Harry's left.

"Leofric Gryffindor. My nephew." Helga clarified. "The two of us worked together to create both it, and the Quill of Acceptance that writes within it. The book made it _far_ easier to track down students. It was necessary once the school started reaching out to students, rather than the other way around. It also guaranteed no Squibs were accidentally enrolled."

Hermione furrowed her brows,"I didn't know that."

Helga smiled sadly, "It was two years after you passed that we completed it, I think."

"So with this book, Voldemort knew all the students that would be admitted into Hogwarts. He was then able to target the muggleborns before they even knew they were magical." Salazar realized.

Amelia nodded, "And that is precisely what he did. Nearly all muggleborns born between the years 1979 and 1984 were culled along with their families." Amelia took a deep breath before continuing. "He got a few students younger than that, but luckily, the Book of Admittance only takes down the students that have already displayed dramatic evidence of magical ability, and not all children do that as infants."

" _Merlin_." Godric breathed shaking his head slowly in astonishment. "We had noticed that many of our classmates were missing, but never even imagined something like _this_ had happened."

"No one even realized what was going on at first." Amelia continued. "We thought they were just random acts of violence. No one even _thought_ to check the Book of Admittance until it was too late to save most of them."

A sad silence fell over the table as everyone considered what had happened. After a moment passed, Salazar decided to speak up before Moody had a chance to start with his questions once more.

"You are Amelia Bones." Salazar noted finally with a nod. "You were not an Order member in our reality, but I did meet your counterpart briefly."

"It's Black, actually," she corrected lightly, "and I suppose that that is not too surprising. Given what your three friends have told us about the history of your reality, that is. I joined the Order in 1982."

Salazar blinked, momentarily taken aback. "Black?" His eyes flickered over towards Sirius who she happened to be seated next to. "You two are..?"

"Married? Of course we are!" Sirius bit out a touch snide, "I suppose that that was not the same in your reality?"

"No. No it was not." Salazar muttered, frowning to himself. He had to remind himself that this was not _his_ Sirius. He took a breath to steel himself for what he intended to say next.

"No… You, Sirius Black were too busy rotting in Azkaban."

"I- _What?!_ " Sirius exclaimed. "But that doesn't make any sense! I thought You-Know-Who was temporarily defeated in your reality! What could I have possibly done after that to warrant _Azkaban?_ "

"The murder of 13 muggles?" Salazar asked rhetorically.

Before Sirius could respond, Hermione jumped in to defuse the situation. "Salazar, stop. Sirius, you were in Azkaban, yes, but you were falsely accused. The Ministry of Magic was in chaos after our Voldemort's temporary defeat and you were one of it's scapegoats."

"But— Did I ever get released?" Sirius asked helplessly.

"Nope!" Harry's eyes took on a wicked gleam. Seated next to James, Remus' own eyes narrowed. "You _escaped,_ Padfoot. My third year. It caused quite a stir."

Sirius looked surprised for a moment before he settled back in his chair with a pleased look on his face. "Well, I suppose that that is something _. Ha!_ Hear that Prongs? Not even _Azkaban_ can hold this Marauder!"

"Doesn't mean you weren't there in the first place! _I_ would have ensured that they never caught me to begin with." James' eyes sparkled with mischief. "Poor little Paddy, stuck in the doghouse."

"You only _wish—_ "

"You are Harry Potter." Remus said suddenly, abruptly cutting off Sirius' retort. With his comment, Remus immediately had everyone's attention. That is, until they all turned to look at Salazar.

Harry swiveled his head abruptly to stare wide eyed at the werewolf. He opened his mouth to answer, but like earlier, could not bring himself to actually make a sound.

"Dear Merlin, he _is_!" Another voice piped up. It took Salazar a moment to associate the voice as belonging to Arthur Weasley. "It's _obvious_ now that you think about it! He is practically Jame's twin! How did we not notice before?"

"We weren't looking." Moody grunted.

Salazar swallowed thickly. All around him, he could hear voices commenting on him, but he couldn't seem to focus on what they were saying. He was too busy being hyper aware of all of the stares that were making his skin crawl. He couldn't hide behind a mask anymore.

He felt utterly naked _._

To Harry, it was almost like being back in second year, when everyone was certain he was the evil heir of Slytherin, despite dubbing him a hero the year before. The comparison nearly made Salazar burst out laughing, despite how inappropriate that would have been given the current climate of the room. But truly, here he was again, being judged for being a Potter with connections with the evil Serpent Lord. Only this time, he wasn't just the heir.

Across the table from him, James stared hard at Salazar.

"No." James said at last his voice practically dripping in old emotions. He brought his trembling hands up to partially cover his face, "I refuse to believe it. You cannot possibly be my son! I-I-I _can't—"_

He broke off as he stood so abruptly that the chair he had been previously seated on fell backwards with a crash. With jerky movements, James Potter bolted from the table towards the door. The noise made as the door slammed shut behind him could be heard echoing in everyones ears as those left seated at the table sat in mute silence.

After a long moment Sirius, who had also been staring at Harry in disbelief, shook his head and followed his friend without a word, leaving only one third of the Marauders still seated at the table.

Harry, who was careful to keep his face emotionless, gazed off in the direction both adults had disappeared in until he felt something warm touching his arm. Slowly, almost sluggishly, Salazar dipped his head down to look at the hand that was now grasping his lower arm. His eyes trailed the arm up until they were looking directly into Helga's. She gave him a brief smile and tightened her hand around where it was holding his forearm.

Taking a deep breath, Salazar twitched the corner of his mouth upwards into a small sad smile to thank her for her support. All throughout this, the Order remained silent. No one was entirely sure how to react to the information that they had just received.

Especially after the reaction that they had just witnessed.

"Alright then." Godric said at last with a loud clap of his hands, effectively pulling everyone's attention off of Salazar and Helga. "I think that we should go ahead and get back to business."

Godric briefly made eye contact with Salazar as he spoke, and Salazar gave Godric a nod in thanks. In response, Godric merely grinned. "Now. Were there any more questions you were wanting to ask Sal? Or can he have the antidote?"

Despite Godric's attempt to get everyone back on topic, the room was still too busy reeling from Salazar's identity to truly focus once more. With Godric breaking the trance the room had been under, the room exploded with noice as everyone began talking at once, much to Moody's annoyance. Salazar mostly tuned out what came after Godric's question. His mind still frozen on the father he had never known's face.

He had prepared himself for hate. He had prepared himself for so much yelling and anger and sneering that a _Slytherin_ especially the evil Dark Lord _Salazar_ Slytherin would ever dare claim to be his son.

But he never even thought to prepare himself for the deep sorrow that he had witnessed on the older man's face.

The fear.

Someone laughed. The sharp sound of it finally broke the haze that seemed to have temporarily encompassed Salazar. "I can't imagine what your reality must have been like! No You-Know-Who, and a Potter not only in Slytherin, but his reincarnation. Slytherin house must have been _completely_ different with you and Sirius's daughter both stirring up trouble!"

"You are referring to the second year girl— Tauri, was it? Yes?" Helga asked lightly. "I, um— You see, she never existed in our world. We were rather surprised when we realized a _Black_ was attending Hogwarts. It was one of our first big indications that we were not in our own reality."

"…and _I_ wasn't in Slytherin." Salazar muttered, finally finding his voice again.

"What do you _mean_ you weren't in Slytherin? You _are_ Slytherin!" Dora exclaimed loudly from his side, nearly causing Salazar to flinch.

When Salazar didn't respond, Helga once again stepped in. "Actually, all four of us were sorted into Gryffindor. You can blame bigotry for that… The Houses today are really not what we had intended them to be like, Gryffindor included. Actually, if we had known back then how much it would divide our school in the future, we would have never created them in the first place. Hindsight and all that, I suppose."

"Alright, we need to finish up the questions with Salazar people." Moody cut in, trying to regain control of the table. "Tell me, _Potter._ Do you agree with blood purity?"

Salazar redirected his focus on Moody, glad for something to release his building frustrations at.

"No." he snapped. "Why on earth would I? I'm currently a _Half-Blood_ for those of you who are slow. And Slytherin was a muggleborn. Actually, the name _Slytherin_ is completely made up! I came up with it myself when I was 12 to fit in with the crowds Merlin used to drag me into."

"Merlin?" someone asked incredulously.

"Oh I shouldn't have said that." Harry groaned. " _Yes._ Merlin was my mentor, and the only reason I met this lot." He gestured widely towards the other founders. "I have Olde Magick, if it escaped your notice. That wasn't exactly common, even a thousand years ago. Merlin was one of the only other Olde Magick wielders still alive. He trained me."

"Would you mind demonstrating this Olde Magick?" Dora asked hesitantly. "I wasn't at the duel, but I've been curious ever since everyone started talking about it."

Salazar glanced over at Godric who shrugged, nodding towards Dora.

"I don't think that that is—"

"Sure." Salazar agreed easily, cutting off Moody. "Anything in particular you want me to do?"

"What _can_ you do?"

"Lots of little things, really." Salazar mused, "Other than that, most of my spells are elementally based. I have a few offensive spells, and the shielding spell I used in the duel. Merlin never even attempted to teach me healing or potions that required Olde Magick. Oh! I've got something!"

Taking out his wand, Harry first conjured a simple wax candle. He then put his wand away and shot a grin at Dora and encircled the candle with his hands.

" _Forbærnan!_ " He intoned first. His eyes flickered gold and a small flame flickered to life on the candle's wick.

"Wicked." Dora's eyes were huge.

Salazar's grin grew wider, "Oh, you haven't seen anything yet!" He turned his attention back to the candle. " _Hoppaþ nu swilce swá lieg fleogan."_

With his words, Salazar's eyes once again flashed gold and the tiny flame flew up from the candle, floating in the air as if by it's own accord. "This was one of the first official spells I learned. It requires a lot of control to keep the flame lit, and the same size. Merlin made me practice it for _weeks_ before he would finally agree to teach me anything else." Salazar murmured, his eyes trained on the flame.

After a moment, Salazar's hands gestured down towards the candle and the tiny flame slowly floated back down towards the candle until it was once again connected with the wick.

Again, Salazar's eyes flickered towards Godric. The red head looked a bit pale, but since he wasn't yelling, Salazar figured that everything was okay. Suddenly, Godric turned, his eyes finding Salazar's. He gave a weak smile, to which Salazar returned tenfold.

"It's been a long time since I have heard you speak so enthusiastically about something, Sal." Rowena commented casually. Salazar shrugged, not entirely sure how to respond to that observation.

"Well then!" Dumbledore finally spoke up again, "Thank you, Mr. Potter for your willingness to answer our questions. I can certainly say that you have put my mind at ease." He held out a bottle of what Salazar assumed was the antidote to the Veritaserum.

Salazar raised an eyebrow, slowly reaching out a hand to take the small vial. "That's it?"

"Quite right, my boy." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.

"Hold it! I am not done questioning him, Albus!" Moody snapped. "Potter! Have you ever killed anyone?"

"Of course." Harry answered tiredly. "I have in both lives. All four of us have. Although the only _person_ I've killed this time around is Voldemort… If you consider him still human, that is."

"You killed You-Know-Who? How?" Amelia queried.

Harry fingered the bottle, and glanced at Dumbledore once before finally responding. "There was a prophecy about me defeating Riddle that was made before I was even born." Harry explained slowly, "Riddle knew of it's existence, but didn't know it's exact words, so he pursued me all through my Hogwart's years. I didn't have a choice but to fight him."

"And this is getting into the reason for why we revealed ourselves." Godric announced, finally giving Salazar a chance to drink the antidote for the veritaserum. "I am sure you guys have noticed how Voldemort seems to think himself immortal. Well, from our own reality, we know how to kill him. Permanently."

~x~

"Prongs! Prongs, wait!" Sirius Black called as he strode after his friend. James came to a halt but did not turn back around.

"I don't want to talk about it right now, Pads." James replied evenly though that did nothing to stop his voice from being deeper than normal.

Sirius shrugged, coming up to stand by his long time friend. His brother. "Then don't talk."

As they stood in silence, Sirius took a second to take in his surroundings. He had never been in this part of the manor before. The room they were now occupying was dim. The only source of light being from the partly shaded window. It appeared to be some sort of guest room, however, judging by the storage boxes seated on the bed, Sirius figured it was safe to assume that the room had been out of use for a long time.

Sirius was pretty sure Severus would have their heads if he knew they were snooping around in rooms they weren't supposed to be in. They might be on relatively good terms with the potions master these days but regardless, the manor _was_ Snape's property, and Sirius doubted that the man would appreciate them snooping too much. Even if he didn't actually use the thing.

Actually, the palace like place was in fact the Prince's ancestral home. Snape had never lived here but his mother had, which is what made the place special to the potions master.

"I don't know if I can do this." James revealed at last, his voice barely above a whisper. "I've already lost so, _so_ many. My parents, my friends, Lily, little Harry… I've managed to find a semblance of happiness thanks to you and your family, but it will never be the same as having my own. And… even if he _is_ a Harry Potter from another reality, he is still _not_ the little boy I held in my arms— Not _my_ Harry."

James sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "And yet he _is,_ at least, he is a reflection of everything I've ever dreamed about at night— well, perhaps not the Slytherin part. He—I don't know what to think anymore. I can't lose him again, Sirius! Even if I never allow myself to get attached to this boy, if something happens to him, just the knowledge that he _could_ have been mine will kill me."

"Then what are we doing out here?" Sirius asked his friend gently.

James shrugged half heartedly. "After Remus pointed it out, it was so unbelievably obvious that he was Lily's. I mean, _honestly_ Sirius, how did I not see it before? His cheekbones, his mouth, his _entire face_! He reminds me so much of her. He might be Slytherin, but there is a gentleness to his features that is so _Lily._ And don't even get me started about his eyes. For a moment back there, I swear I was it was her looking at me… Sirius, how can I face that boy— look into his _eyes_ — knowing that it is my fault that he is dead here, that it is my fault that _his mother_ is dead?"

Sirius sighed. They had had this same conversation far too many times. It was honestly getting a little old. "It wasn't your fault, and you know it, James. Now come on. You have got to face him sooner or later— we both have to. We might as well get it over with sooner rather than later."

"You can, but I am staying right here. I already told you. I am not up to facing him yet." James maintained, crossing his arms over his chest.

"James," Sirius implored, "Are you ever going to be truly ready? I won't, and well… I do not pretend to understand what you are going through exactly, but I _did_ lose a godson that night. Seeing him again, all grown up and a completely different person than what I had imagined in my head is unnerving, but we have to face it. Otherwise, we will never be able to move forward."

James was silent for a long moment as he considered his friends words. Finally, he spoke up, just as Sirius was about to give up that his friend was ever going to see reason. "You're right… Alright, fine I will return with you. But I don't want to talk with him yet. I can't. I… _please._ If he acts like he wishes to speak with us, can you please explain to him how I feel? I don't want him to think I hate him for being Slytherin. It does unnerve me a bit, but I can deal with that. So long as he does not turn into a killing maniac, I will deal. But I can't face him yet."

Sirius nodded in acceptance. "Fine." he replied, "I will do all the talking if it comes to it. But he is not staying at my place. Not until I know him a little better at least. He may be Harry, but like you said, he is not _our_ Harry, and he _is_ still Slytherin. I don't trust him yet, and there is no way I will let him loose around my kids until I do."

With that matter settled, Sirius turned back towards the dining room that the Order meeting was being held. He never turned to make sure that his friend was following, but by the second set of boots he could hear echoing his own, he felt it was safe to assume his friend was still willingly following.

Upon reaching the dining room, Sirius quietly opened the door and held it open. With the tiniest of nods, James stepped past him and into the room with Sirius quickly moving in behind him. Within the room, only a few paid any mind to their return.

"—only can guarantee a few of their locations." Godric was saying.

"But you are certain there are only seven?" Dumbledore asked leaning forward.

Salazar leaned forward too, an amused light in his eyes. "We are pretty sure. After all, in our reality, it was _you_ who explained to us how superstitious and sentimental Voldemort can be. Seven is a rather powerful magical number. I think it is safe to say that he would aim for that— even here."

Dumbledore nodded seriously. "Yes… Indeed, I do see your point."

"Now it will just come down to finding them." Hermione sighed. "It would probably be best to go after my Diadem first— just to ensure that at least _some_ of the Horcruxes are in the places we expect them to be— but we cannot afford to destroy it yet. Should Voldemort get wind of what we are doing, we will lose any advantage we have."

Dumbledore narrowed his eyes. "If you four are right about it being in the castle, I simply cannot allow it to remain in its current hiding spot." he decided, leaving no room for argument. "I can understand not destroying it right away, but it leaves Hogwarts as soon as possible."

"We never claimed we wanted it to remain in Hogwarts, headmaster." Godric clarified, "Don't forget who we are. We love that school just as much, if not more than you do. It turns my stomach to think that he has put such as disgusting thing inside her."

"But if not Hogwarts, then where can we store them?" Helga questioned, "I don't want the Horcruxes in Hogwarts, but is there really any other place that we can ensure that Voldemort will not find them?"

"Grimmauld Place." Salazar spoke up. His eyes turned upon Sirius with a face completely devoid of any emotion. "You are the current Lord Black, correct?"

"Er-yes…"

"And is it safe to assume that Number 12 Grimmauld Place _is_ under the fidelius still, but you do not actually live in that dump?"

Sirius quirked an eyebrow, seeing where this line of questioning was leading. "You would assume correctly, only a mad old house elf lives there still."

A wicked smirk grew on the green eyed boy's face. "Good." he turned away from Sirius then and diverted his attention back towards Albus. "Then I suggest we keep the Horcruxes there. That place is dark enough on its own, that no one will notice a little extra dark magic added to the lot. Besides, if we are correct about the location of the diadem, then we should also find my old locket safe with Kreacher."

"Wait, what?" Sirius interrupted, his forehead creased with confusion. "Find _what_ exactly? What does my old house elf have to do with anything?"

"A Horcrux, Sirius." Albus explained gravely, "While you two were gone, these four explained how Riddle used them in their world to make himself impossible to kill. Basically, it entails anchoring a piece of his soul to various objects. All must be destroyed before he can actually die. It is very dark magic."

"Okay… I can understand that, but why would _Kreacher_ of all beings have it?"

At first, Sirius though that it would be Salazar who would answer him, however, the boy only looked at him with an indiscernible emotion before turning his head away. It was then that Sirius realized that while Harry had looked at him plenty of times since his return to the room, he had not so much as glanced over at James.

Not once.

"Sirius, Kreacher is guarding it for Regulus." Rowena began tentatively. "In our reality—and we believe it will prove true for this one too—Regulus defected from Riddle, and, as a last act of defiance, he attempted to find and destroy one of the Horcruxes. Right before his death, he gave it to Kreacher to destroy. Unfortunately, the poor elf has no way of doing so, and is being driven mad by his inability to complete his last order, and the darkness emitted from the locket itself."

With that revelation out in the open, Sirius could do little more than simply lean back in his chair and let out a long breath. "Damn." he breathed. And here he thought his brother had been a lost cause. It made the fact that he had abandoned Regulus to deal with their barmy parents alone, while he ran to the Potters hurt all that much more.

Unaware of the internal conflict being waged within Sirius' head, the others continued their discussion.

"That would most likely work. Grimmauld Place would certainly not be a place that the Death Eaters would consider looking for the Horcruxes." Moody grudgingly agreed. "Are we sure that house elf can be trusted? He is a Black elf after all. And there are plenty of Blacks among the Death Eater ranks."

Salazar opened his mouth to respond, his eyes flickering again to Sirius. However before he could get a single syllable out, Rowena beat him to the chase.

"I should think so, yes. Keep in mind that Kreacher only wants to destroy the locket. Once we explain to him that that is exactly what we want to do, he should comply with us easily enough."

"Salazar?" Albus asked softly, "Something you wished to add?"

All throughout Rowena's response, he had been glaring at her. " _I_ don't trust him." he bit out, "He has betrayed us in our reality already."

"Yes, but we know _why_ now. It wasn't his fault! He didn't realize we were all on the same side!"

"Oh _please_ , Hermione. He knew exactly what side we were on. He just wanted me dead. He wanted _Sirius_ dead."

Hermione huffed, "Well, then what do you suggest we do then, huh? We are _not_ killing him!"

"Perhaps we should." Salazar mused aloud. "He is old, after all. Perhaps it would be a mercy to simply put him out of his misery."

" _Harry!_ I cannot believe you would even suggest such a thing! He is a living, breathing, creature. He ought to have rights!" Rowena cried.

"Well, he does have a point, 'Mione." Godric muttered, only to freeze as she turned her glare upon him.

"Well, we will have to discuss what to do with the house elf at a later time." Dumbledore assured, "However now, I think it is about time we all go our separate ways. Tomorrow morning, I would like for Severus, Salazar and Rowena to join me in my office. The four of us will then see about locating the first horcrux. Meeting adjourned."

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 **AN:** Please don't forget to Review!

I had _such_ a hard time writing that confrontation between Sirius and James. That's what has primarily held this chapter up, actually. It was a necessary discussion, but still… I was so tempted to just scrap it a few times. Hope it turned out okay!

 _Forbærnan—_ from Merlin; the fire spell.

 _Hoppaþ nu swilce swá lieg fleogan—_ from Merlin; used to make the flame of a candle fly in the air.

Till next time!

~Dawn


	16. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Merlin, nor anything else recognizable. No profit is coming from this. I am merely playing in the sandboxes of those far more famous than myself.**

Unbetaed.

Without further ado, I present to you…

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 **What Went Wrong?**

~x~

 **Ch 15:** _The Hunt Begins_

~x~

"So that happened." Helga proclaimed loudly as the quartet finally stepped into their chambers for the evening.

Salazar merely hummed in response as he sank tiredly into one of the chairs in the Main Hall. All around him his friends also seated themselves in various places around the room.

"So..." he started after a moment had passed, his companions all turned to look at him. "How did everything go with your interrogations?"

"Good, I think," Helga responded from her perch on the armchair across from him. "But they already knew who _I_ was before I entered the room thanks to Ron. I— mum was really receptive. Whole family was actually. It was kinda weird, honestly, but nice."

Godric nodded soberly. "I didn't actually tell them who you were, Gin, but after I gave them my name they kinda figured it out anyways, you know? Kinda hard not to I guess… Anyways, I think they were quite shocked at first but, yeah. Really welcoming, despite us not actually being their family technically. According to dad, our doubles died here as kids. Right before we started Hogwarts too."

"Yeah..." Helga took over. "In this reality, whilst dad was at work, and mum had gone to run a quick errand, Death Eaters came and attacked our home. Bill had already moved out, and Charlie had gone to visit him, so mum had left Percy in charge. He was thirteen.

"Anyways, the Death Eaters came and killed Percy and our two doubles. The remaining Weasleys were all devastated, and the twins— they were also home when this all happened— were never the same. According to mum, Percy hid them before he went to try and protect our doubles. The twins didn't see their siblings' murders, but they almost certainly heard them."

"Well, I guess that explains why the twins are so different here," Salazar commented, taking a deep breath. He himself had yet to actually speak with this reality's Weasley twins, but from what he had heard from the others, the differences were uncanny.

"Yeah." Godric didn't bring his gaze up from his hands. "Supposedly they still invent here, but not jokes. As they have grown older, they have become almost obsessive about trying to prevent other families from having to go through what they did. So, they invent weapons for the Order, and other things to help the fight against Riddle."

"My family is dead here too." Hermione blurted out as Ron fell silent. "I—It shouldn't bother me that much I guess— I mean they were dead in our reality too, but I just— This is _two_ realities where they have died because of my existence now. In this reality, they were killed along with me when I was only seven, thanks to those stupid pages being stolen. Neither my double nor my double's parents even knew magic _existed_ yet."

"I'm sorry." Ginny whispered, her eyes were glistening with unshed tears, "I— It's my fault that the book even exists. I never intended— I mean, it never even crossed my mind that the Book of Admittance _could_ be weaponized."

Hermione looked stunned. Like Ginny, her own eyes were glassy, but her voice remained clear. "No! Helga, I could _never_ blame you! The only one at fault is Voldemort, none of us should forget that. That Book is an incredible invention."

"Did anyone happen to find out what happened to my double here?" Harry asked hesitantly. "I had been meaning to ask— I mean, I guess I can assume that he was killed as an infant, but…"

"No. Sorry, Harry," Hermione was quick to answer, wiping her face of a stray tear that had managed to streak down her cheek. "The topic never really came up beyond the fact that Voldemort never died here. I had explained that a rebounded killing curse in 1981 was what had temporarily killed him, but no details beyond that really. And nothing involving you too much; I figured that that was _your_ story to tell…

"And besides, they never asked—I think that they were more interested in us than anything, so beyond basic history, they don't know much. And then after you entered the room, and your double's father— er, Mr. Potter— _left_ the room, I didn't dare bring it up. You seemed to have enough on your mind already."

Salazar hummed. "Yes, I suppose that that is true."

"Anyways," Hermione continued, "where are we going to go from here on? I mean, the Order knows about us now, but it might still be in our best interests to keep up the charade with the rest of the Wizarding World for now. Give us an edge against Voldemort."

"That would probably be best." Godric agreed. "At least until we can speak with the Order again, and get their opinions."

Salazar nodded in agreement. "Agreed. They know this Voldemort better than us at this point. If we are going to start actively moving against him, they will know best how he is going to react to us."

"I was going to ask you about that." Helga remarked thoughtfully, "Salazar, are you planning to blatantly stand against him, or..?"

Salazar was quiet for a moment as he thought. "Honestly, I hadn't thought about that, I mean, I'm so used to Voldemort simply hating me on sight…" He paused for another minute, his brow furrowing before he continued, speaking slowly, but definitively. "I'm not going to be a spy. Even if that is what Dumbledore wants, I refuse to watch Voldemort torture innocents while I stand idle. Besides, I'd rather not drag my name further through the mud— the name Salazar Slytherin is already viewed poorly enough."

"But…" The green eyed founder mused aloud, "on the other hand, it might be wise for me to toy with him a bit, rather than simply stand against him. After all, we will have to gather the Horcruxes before we really fight him. Perhaps I can pull some of his attention on me so that he is paying less attention to the Order's actions, or something like that. I'll have to think about it."

Godric nodded slowly, "If you can distract him at all, then that also means that he is not going to be as focused on whatever plans he has got in the making either. That could definitely work in our favor."

"Okay!" Helga chimed in, "Then the next thing we have got to worry about are the Horcruxes themselves. Hopefully, we will have the first one secured by lunch tomorrow."

"Yeah," Rowena agreed "but I don't actually know if it is a good idea for us to go after my diadem in the middle of the morning. Someone is bound to see us."

"Do you reckon that Voldemort will have Slytherins guarding it?" Godric inquired. "Actually, what is the likelihood that Riddle had the Slytherins move it somewhere else within the castle? We already know for a fact that he has recruited some of the older students here."

"Unlikely." Salazar decided. "Remember, neither Malfoy nor the Lestranges had any idea as to what the Horcruxes in their possession _were_. Otherwise, I am sure— at least in Malfoy's case— that they would not have been so careless with them. I highly doubt that Voldemort would trust the students with them. Besides, I doubt he knows any better hiding places in the castle than the Room of Requirements. Anywhere else, and someone might spot and recognize the 'lost Ravenclaw diadem' and take it."

"And don't forget Helena," Ginny added, "She is bound to be keeping an eye on it."

Still focused on Voldemort, Ron prodded further. "So you think he might just have his Slytherin's watching the room then?"

"Yes and no," Harry confessed. "I doubt he would trust even the Slytherins to 'guard' the Room of Requirements. He'd be too worried they'd be too obvious about it and alert Dumbledore to the fact that he was hiding something there. But, at the same time, I am sure he has asked any recruits he has within the school to watch Dumbledore, various professors, and even us. A group of us going up to the seventh floor would be sure to set off alarm bells."

"So you _don't_ think it is a good idea for us to go after my diadem tomorrow." Rowena guessed.

"Probably not, no." Salazar shrugged. "But I suppose we can just use the disillusionment charm or something similar to hide. Granted, that is not a failsafe and if they happen to spot us regardless, they will _know_ something is up. We should definitely bring it up with Dumbledore tomorrow morning." Salazar glanced over at Helga, "As for Helena, there is not much we _can_ do, and eventually, we will have no choice but to go after the Horcrux. We shall deal with it as it comes."

"I think everything else can be left for the morning actually," Godric suggested with a yawn as he moved to stand. "I'm headed to bed. Good night."

"Can I stay with you tonight?" Rowena asked Godric suddenly, before quickly adding, "Not to— Just to sleep. I just don't want to be alone tonight…"

Godric's eyes softened, "Of course, 'Mione."

Together, the two older founders retreated towards their once shared bedroom. Helga and Salazar sat in silence as they watched their friends disappear. Salazar's mind was still reeling from the events that had taken place earlier that evening. He was most certainly not looking forward to meeting with the Order again in the future for the simple reason that he didn't know how to act around them; _especially_ his father and Sirius.

"I suppose we should head off then too." Helga mused after a moment, stretching her arms out in front of her.

Salazar yawned, emphasizing her point. "Probably smart," he chuckled lightly to hide his tribulations.

At least tomorrow morning, he was only going to have to deal with Dumbledore and Snape. Those two he could handle.

~x~

The next morning, Salazar and Rowena met in the Main Hall and began to make the short journey up the stairs and towards the Headmaster's office. Waking up this morning, Salazar couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding. Perhaps that was why he had chosen to wear his leather armor instead of the more everyday wizarding clothes he typically sported. Although, he did mostly cover it up with an emerald green robe.

By Salazar's calculations, breakfast hadn't even started in the Great Hall. That also meant that there wouldn't really be any students milling about. Salazar figured it was probably for the best. It would be difficult to explain why the two of them were going to the Headmaster's office first thing in the morning if they happened to actually see a student.

As they made their way up the winding staircase and into the quaint little office, Salazar was only mildly surprised to hear unintelligible voices speaking on the other side of the door. With a quick glance towards Rowena, Salazar deftly pushed the door open. Immediately, Dumbledore, Snape, and Remus all turned to face them.

"Ah, you've arrived! Just in time." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.

Rowena spoke before Salazar could. "Sorry, if we kept you waiting… Will Remus be joining us?"

"Oh no," Remus answered for himself with a smile. "I just came to work out some details regarding my class with the Headmaster. I wasn't sure how long he would be occupied today, so I figured I'd deal with it now."

"Quite right," Dumbledore agreed, "And Remus, I see no problem with Godric taking over your class this Friday. Of course, you will have to clear it with him too."

"You want Godric to teach for you?" Salazar asked with a raised eyebrow.

Remus looked slightly abashed. "I was hoping he would, yes. Usually, Severus takes over for me, but with everything going on, and Severus being busy brewing potions for both the Order and the school, I figured perhaps Godric could do it this time… I'm assuming you two already know _why_ I need someone to substitute for me."

"We do," Salazar confirmed with an easy shrug. "And I'm sure 'Ric will be honored. He loves to teach; especially a subject like Assault/Protection—sorry, _Defense_."

"That's good to know. I mean, I kinda figured, what with the four of you opening a school and all but—" Remus paused as he seemed to realize something, "Wait. On that first morning, when you questioned the need for Defense against the Dark Arts, you were just pulling our legs that whole time, weren't you?"

Salazar let out a breathy laugh, his emerald eyes bright with amusement. "Of course I was! You have no idea how hard it has been to keep a straight face with half of what I have said since coming here. I mean, I had to play the part right?"

Remus shook his head in amusement. "You certainly got your father's mischievous streak."

Salazar froze slightly, not entirely sure how to respond. Luckily, Rowena saved him. "We should probably get focused on the matter at hand. Headmaster, the Horcrux is hidden on the seventh floor in a hidden room. How likely is it that Voldemort has students either watching the floor for activity or simply watching any of _us?_ We don't want to clue him into what we are doing, after all."

As Dumbledore thought about the questions posed, Remus took the time to make a quiet exit. "A few of the Order's members came up with a map of this castle during their school years. It was found a few years back by the Weasley twins, who handed it over to the Order so that we might better watch Voldemort's followers within Hogwarts. Thus, so long as we mind the map, no one will see us, but let us disillusion ourselves just to be safe."

"Of course!" Rowena exclaimed, "The Marauder's Map! We forgot about that! We used it quite a bit in our reality too."

"Wonderful!" Dumbledore said merrily, "Shall we get going then? As I claimed yesterday, I'd rather the Horcrux not remain in Hogwarts for any longer than necessary."

With a sharp nod of agreement, Salazar made quick work of casting the charm on himself and the others followed suit. He then spun on his heels and headed back down the stairs and out of the office.

Once the group of four had all made it out of the office, Salazar led the way down the empty halls and towards the staircases that would lead them to the seventh floor corridor. Even though he could not really see him, Salazar could hear as Severus quickly stepped forward so that he was walking alongside him. Glancing behind him, Salazar could just barely make out Rowena walking beside Dumbledore, who he could only assume was intently studying the Marauder's Map.

"We hated each other, you know," Salazar decided to inform him casually. He was sure to keep his voice quiet, just in case there was anyone milling about. "In my reality."

"Did we?" Severus responded, his voice kept just above a whisper.

Salazar smirked lightly, "You didn't like my dad, and I looked far too much like him growing up."

"I suppose you do share many similarities with him… And I _did_ hate Potter for a very long time. Eventually, we got over it. I doubt we will ever be _friends_ however," Severus admitted, "Although now that I am looking for it, I can certainly see more of Lily in your face than Potter."

"Really?" Salazar asked. He scrunched his face slightly in thought, "That's funny. I'm rarely compared to her. Most just claim that I am an exact copy of my father with my mum's eyes."

Salazar came to a halt and undid his charm as they reached the seventh floor corridor. The halls were dead quiet, so he figured it was unnecessary. Just after he became visible again, Salazar was suddenly able to see the others, proving that they were following the same line of thought as himself.

As soon as he was visible, Salazar could see Severus eyeing him carefully. "You don't look _that_ much like him. There are similarities to be sure, but you are not an exact copy."

Salazar dipped his head slightly in acknowledgment before turning slightly to address the entire group. "Alright, everyone should wait here while we get the door open." He glanced over towards Rowena. "Shall I do the honors?"

Rowena gesture in front of her. "Be my guest."

With a smirk, Salazar spun back around and began pacing up and down the corridor. He could feel the others' eyes on him and had to keep from laughing outright. He knew he looked rather silly. Finally, he came to a halt directly in front of the door as it came into existence.

"Shall we then?" He asked over his shoulder as he lifted a hand to open the intricate door. The door swung open with a slight groan, revealing a massive room filled to the brim with clutter. Rowena quickly joined him and stepped into the Room of Hidden Things first.

"Most impressive," Dumbledore said under his breath as he finally stepped forward too. Severus was quick to fall into step behind him. After the two stepped through the door, Salazar entered behind them and closed the door with a dull thump.

"Thank you." He responded with a half smile. "This little room was a joint project between all four of us. Since we had so few students during our first few years, we spent a lot of time focused on Hogwarts and how we could truly make her 'magical'. This room was one of our most impressive creations, I should think. It is here in this room that Hogwart's sentience is at its most powerful."

"Yes." Rowena agreed as they continued to carefully step through the room in search of the diadem. "Although as more and more students have studied magic within her walls, Hogwart's sentience has only grown more powerful. Today, she is far more powerful than we ever imagined her being able to become. I—"

"Mother?"

Rowena spun around just as Salazar and the rest of the small group turned to look at the newcomer.

"Helena…" Rowena whispered automatically before her eyes widened and she glanced over at Salazar in panic. Salazar felt like facepalming, but he couldn't exactly blame Rowena for her reaction. Sure they had discussed the possibility of running into Helena last night, but Salazar hardly expected the ghost to speak so carelessly. Before he could think further on the subject, Helena was speaking again.

"So you _do_ know who I am" The Grey Lady continued her voice sounding a bit lost. To Salazar, she looked a great deal like the little girl he remembered in that moment. "William told me you four were acting a bit odd, but I still didn't— I mean, _how_..?"

Salazar stepped forward. "We were reincarnated." he answered truthfully for his friend. He could hardly see a reason for lying at this point; Helena already knew something was up. "You grew up quite beautifully, Helena. Although it saddens me to know that you did not get the chance to truly _live_ your life."

"You are Salazar Slytherin," Helena acknowledged, moving closer to him, "I will be honest, I don't really remember you, but father used to show me pictures and tell me stories of your adventures together."

Salazar nodded with a sad smile, "I cannot say I am surprised, you were only four when I was killed."

"Helena, I am _so_ sorry." Rowena whispered, pulling everyone's attention back to her. "I should have tried harder to connect with you. If only I had seen the signs, I—" she broke off with a sob.

Helena turned her head away, her eyes were as misty as Salazar supposed a ghost's could get. "I do not blame you anymore. How can I, when the blame truly lies with me? I was young and naive then, but all my actions were still my own. I—I am so _sorry,_ mum! I caused both of our deaths, _and_ what has become of your diadem! It's _all_ my fault!"

Stepping backwards, Salazar gestured towards Dumbledore and Severus and began moving further into the Room of Hidden Things. Once they were out of sight and hearing of Rowena and Helena, Salazar finally spoke.

"I think they need some private time to talk," Salazar murmured, just loud enough for the other two to hear. "Don't you? Anyways, I believe the diadem is this way."

"Yes, that does seem wise," Dumbledore agreed as he glanced curiously around him, "You were killed, my boy?"

Salazar was a bit taken aback by the subject, but he quickly blinked the surprise from his eyes and answered. "Er, yes, I was… Poisoned, actually— although, in my alarm, my magic exploded outward. I am unsure as to which actually did me in in the end. I was 28 at the time."

The threesome continued in silence as Salazar slowly wound through the clutter. As they made another turn, Salazar turned his attention towards Severus, "Pardon my asking, but are you a spy here too?" he queried curiously.

"I was," Severus sighed after a slight pause. "I was outed as a spy nearly a decade ago. It came down to the choice of saving dozens or further securing my place as a spy. The Dark Lord knew that there was a spy amongst his inner circle, so he was giving out bits of information to see who it was. He told _me_ about the pages he had stolen from the Book of Admittance. Granted, he had already killed most of those whose names were on the list, but I still couldn't _not_ tell the Order."

Salazar nodded grimly, "I'd say you made the right choice." He came to a halt in front of a pile of clutter and carefully picked up a nondescript black box. Gently removing the lid, Salazar peered inside. From inside the box, the infamous diadem glinted darkly. Salazar could practically _feel_ the wrongness radiating off the thing. The green eyed teen tilted the box so that his companions could also see inside.

"One down then." he commented grimly, replacing the lid. "Shall we head back towards the front?"

Receiving nods, Salazar began to lead the way back towards the front of the room. When they reached the entrance, Helena glanced up towards their group and, after sharing a few more quiet words with Rowena, sunk into the floor of the room and disappeared.

Salazar approached Rowena slowly. As she turned to face him, he could see the tear stains on her face as she rubbed at her eyes.

"Are you okay?" He asked her quietly.

Rowena gave a tiny nod. "I'm alright." she sniffled, then added. "Helena promised not to say anything, although I am certain she now intends to speak with Godric later… Did you find it?"

"Yes." Salazar held up the black box for Rowena to take. Hesitantly, Rowena took the box cautiously but didn't move to open it.

"Alright then. Let's get out of here."

~x~

The walk back to the office was made in complete silence. Since it was still so early in the morning, very few students were roaming the hallways. Through the usage of the Map and the disillusionment charms, the small group managed to again remain unseen.

As they reentered the headmaster's office and removed the charms, Dumbledore was quick to move towards the back of the office with the explanation that he was going to Floo Moody about their success. However, before he could, the fireplace flared green and Mad-Eye himself burst into the room along with James and a few others Harry recognized from the Order.

"Oh good, you are here!" James began sounding incredibly relieved, "You-Know-Who is in Hogsmeade. He is not doing anything yet, but—"

"We got your patronus." A tired voice interrupted from behind Salazar, he turned to see Remus and McGonagall enter the office. "What about the Aurors? Can they not do something Prongs?"

"No." James seethed. "My hands are bloody _tied_. Thanks to You-Know-Who's influence in the ministry, I will not be able to clear them to act until it will be far too late. It's pointless to even try."

"But he is not actually attacking yet?" Salazar couldn't help but ask curiously. As all eyes turned to him, he couldn't help but explain, " _Waiting_ was not something our Voldemort typically did. He'd just go and take out as many as he could."

James stared at him with an indiscernible expression for a long moment before finally replying. His voice was light for the topic it spoke of, "Well, this is rather common for _ours_. He doesn't just randomly kill, he _targets._ I believe that _this_ is mostly just an act of intimidation. He wants us, _and_ the general populous to see that he is not afraid of coming so close to the school."

Dumbledore nodded grimly. "And if the Order moves against him, it will show that we view his movement as a threat. We'd be playing right into his hands."

"A backwards moral boost for his followers." Salazar interpreted thoughtfully.

"But," Moody argued, "If we don't, then he might just decide to _accidentally_ kill someone after all, and hark about how the Order isn't doing a very good job of protecting anyone."

"What if I spoke to him?"

Salazar had blurted out the question before he had even truly processed the notion. ' _Was it really a good idea?'_ he questioned himself. Sure, he had played with the idea of taunting Riddle last night with the other founders, but that was different from actually suggesting the idea here before members of the Order. His proposal had been rather spur of the moment on his part he supposed; something he typically didn't do. At this point, he honestly didn't even know what he would _say_ when he came face to face with Riddle. As Harry, they had typically spat a few lines filled with hatred at each other and then proceeded with trying to kill each other. Playing mind games was not something he had even considered as an option.

But that was exactly what he was going to be doing now. Unfortunately, now that Salazar had put the idea on the table, there was no way he was going to back down again. He had voluntarily brought the idea forward, so he would follow through with it. He had always been too stubborn and prideful for his own good.

Rowena whipped her head around to take in her companion. "Sal, I don't know if that is a good idea. It's far too dangerous."

"Somehow, I don't think _my heir_ will strike at me." Salazar practically spat the words 'my heir'. "Besides, we talked about this. Perhaps it would be wise for me to start this little game of cat and mouse now rather than later."

"But—"

"Headmaster," Salazar called, cutting off Rowena's rebuttal. "What do _you_ think about me toying with Riddle a bit? I do not think it wise for me to stand clearly against yet for various reasons, however, perhaps I can distract him? I am well aware that he wishes to secure my aid. I could use that to my advantage"

"How do you know that?" Moody asked suspiciously.

Salazar raised an eyebrow, "The Slytherins already tried to recruit me." he admitted with a sly smirk, "And Voldemort himself sent me a letter following the duel. I don't know for certain whether he had anything to do with those wards falling or not, but he was quite willing to use them as an excuse to try and turn me against the others."

"You never mentioned any of that last night." An Order member Salazar didn't recognize pointed out dubiously.

Salazar shrugged. "It never came up."

"I think the idea has some merit." the Headmaster finally affirmed. "Should things go south, I assume you are more than capable of handling it?"

"Naturally." Salazar's smirk was positively wicked. "I've had a good amount of practice fighting him and his Death Eaters."

"Salazar, I still don't like the idea of you going to meet him alone. He could have a portkey and—"

"I'll be careful Rona." Salazar turned to face her. "If it makes you feel better, a small group could be positioned within the Shrieking Shack ready to move should the situation begin to deteriorate." He glanced back at the Headmaster as he finished, raising an eyebrow in question.

"A splendid idea, my boy. Having a few on hand would be wise. If the situation really does deteriorate, I do not expect you will be able to protect the entire village and yourself all alone." the elderly professor affirmed. "Alastor, would you lead a group to position themselves in the Shack? Take the Map and Remus— he knows the secret passage better than anyone."

With a grim nod, Moody took the Marauder's Map from Dumbledore and moved back towards the fireplace to Floo Call more members of the Order.

"Alright." Rowena sighed. "But _please_ be careful. I'd rather not have to explain to Helga that you've gone and gotten yourself killed. _Again._ "

Salazar huffed in morbid amusement. "I'll stay vigilant."

She nodded, "You'd better." She then addressed Dumbledore "I'm sending a Patronus to Godric and Helga. I am sure that they will want to help out as well."

With a deep breath, Salazar pulled the thick robe he had been wearing off, revealing his black dueling armor. While his knives were absent, with the removal of the robe, both his dagger and wand were revealed to be currently on his person. Folding the green robe over one of the various chairs in the office, Salazar addressed the room once more. "I suppose it was a good thing I chose to wear this today, yeah?" He mused out loud to himself. "I just had one of those feelings, you know? Anyways, I'm going to start heading down there now. I'll send Prongs— er, my patronus— if I run into any problems before everyone gets into position."

With that, Salazar turned and left the office for the third time within the last twelve hours. As he strode down the spiraling stairs, he could hear footsteps following him. Salazar paused slightly to look over his shoulder. To his surprise, it was not Rowena or Snape who was following him like he had expected, but James Potter.

Brows furrowing, Salazar turned completely to face the man who was his double's father. "I— did you need something?" he asked, a little unsure of what to say.

To his utmost surprise, the older man pulled him into a rough hug. "Be _careful_." James stressed as he pulled away and they stood at arm's length, "I know that you are not technically my son, but I cannot just— just, _please,_ for my sake, be careful."

Salazar nodded with wide eyes, momentarily taken aback. "I promise." he vowed as he turned back around and continued down the steps.

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* * *

 **AN:** Lots of dialogue in this one. Not sure if I am entirely pleased with it, but I am tired of editing and am more than ready to get to writing the far more exciting next chapter!

Let me know what you think so far, and please don't forget to review!

Till next time!

~Dawn


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